Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  I 
Feb.,  1890.  J 
Algarobia  Glandnlosa. 
67 
from  them  ;  it  is  simply  an  infusion  made  by  throwing  the 
crushed  ripe  beans  into  boiling-  water,  or  by  boiling  them 
together,  and  afterwards  straining.  A  fermented  liquor, 
used  to  some  extent  in  Mexico,  is  prepared  in  that  country; 
the  fruit  easily  undergoes  alcoholic  fermentation.  Owing  to 
the  fact  that  the  legumes  are  indehiscent  and  after  falling 
to  the  ground  are  soon  destroyed  by  insects,  it  is  seen  that 
the  growth  of  the  mezquite  is  not  as  dense  or  as  easy  of 
attainment  as  it  would  otherwise  seem.  The  fact  that  these 
legumes  are  a  favorite  food  of  cattle  and  that  their  seeds 
always  remain  undigested  and  are  passed  in  such  a  state  in 
the  faeces  of  cows  and  horses,  will  perhaps  best  explain  the 
rapid  extent  of  this  hardy  shrub  or  tree.  An  analysis  made 
by  Dr.  Havard,  yielded  26  per  cent,  of  glucose,  albumen  and 
gum,  traces  of  fats  and  salts  were  also  found. 
The  wood,  at  the  present  time,  is  the  most  important  pro- 
duct of  the  mezquite,  for  the  reason  that  it  furnishes  in  those 
regions,  where  it  is  indigenous,  the  great  bulk  of  the  fuel 
used ;  and  because  of  its  value  as  a  timber  which  will  stand 
the  ravages  of  time.  While  a  hard,  fine-grained  and  easily 
polished  wood,  the  fact  that  the  centre  of  the  trunk  is  often 
fissured,  detracts  considerably  from  its  value  in  cabinet  work. 
The  most  valuable  quality  is  the  bold  front  it  opposes  to 
decay,  and  striking  proof  of  this  is  not  wanting,  for  in  the 
old  missions  and  in  numerous  old  Spanish  houses  these 
mezquite  beams  still  support  the  stone  roofs,  though  a 
century  has  passed  since  they  were  first  set  in  place.  Old 
hitching  posts  have  withstood  the  winter's  cold  and  summer's 
heat  for  over  25  years  and  are  found  still  solid,  even  in  the 
subterranean  portions.  This  quality  of  the  mezquite  has 
been  attributed  to  the  tannin  which  it  contains,  and  this 
constituent  also  makes  it  valuable  as  a  material  for  tanning 
leather.  This  tannin  resembles  the  nutgall  tannin  in  pro- 
ducing the  same  inky  precipitate  with  ferric  salts.  It  is 
more  plentiful  in  the  heart  wood  than  other  portions  of  the 
plant.  The  reddish-brown  heart  wood  is  surrounded  by  a 
superficial  layer  of  canary-yellow  sap  wood.  Transverse 
sections  of  the  wood  show  wavy  concentric  rings,  the  zones 
varying  in  .color   from    yellowish  to  purplish-brown ;  the 
