Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Feb.  1875.  I 
Agave  Americana. 
81 
carefully  covered  up  with  leaves  and  stones  to  preserve  them  from  the 
attacks  of  cattle,  dogs  and  a  kind  of  jackal,  common  in  the  country. 
The  pulque  "  manufactories  on  the  plantations,  to  which  the  juice  is 
removed  after  collecting,  consists  of  long,  covered  and  well-ventilated 
galleries,  in  which  are  rows  of  vats  made  of  bullocks'  hides  stretched 
over  a  framework,  and  covered  with  lime  ;  the  juice  is  emptied  into 
these  vats,  and  allowed  to  stand  for  about  thirty-six  hours,  when  fer- 
mentation ensues,  and  its  yellow  transparent  color  changes  into  a  milky 
white.  After  fermentation,  the  juice  or  pulque  is  ready  for  use,  and  is 
then  sent  off  to  the  City  of  Mexico,  Puebla,  or  the  nearest  market 
within  a  radius  of  20  to  30  leagues  \  the  pulque  very  commonly  under- 
going a  considerable  dilution  of  water  by  the  way  at  the  hands  of  the 
carriers  who  convey  it  in  sheepskin  bags  upon  mules  or  donkeys.  The 
quantity  of  it  which  thus  annually  enters  the  City  of  Mexico  alone  may 
be  estimated,  on  an  average,  to  be  about  2,000,000  arrobas,  and  that 
which  enters  Puebla  to  be  about  500,000  arrobas,  aud  the  cost  of  trans- 
port alone  has  been  calculated,  taking  the  approximate  average  of  one 
real  as  that  of  each  arroba,  to  represent  the  sum  of  $312,000;  not 
less  than  20,000  mules  and  donkeys  laden  with  the  beverage  entering 
the  city  every  month  by  the  gate  leading  to  the  Maguey  districts.  To 
the  quantity  paying  duty  must  also  be  added  a  considerable  quantity 
which  is  smuggled  in,  and  including  this  it  may  be  calculated  that 
about  50,000,000  bottles  are  now  annually  introduced  into  the  City 
of  Mexico. 
"  From  a  chemical  analysis  of  pulque  it  is  found  to  contain,  in  dif- 
ferent proportions,  according  to  its  quality,  alcohol,  mucilaginous  fecula, 
sugar,  water  and  potash.  It  has  been  observed  that  the  drunkenness 
produced  by  it  under  its  different  varieties  is  of  a  less  violent  descrip- 
tion than  that  produced  by  another  common  beverage  of  the  country, 
'  chinguirito '  (brandy  made  from  the  sugar-cane),  and  that  delirium  tre- 
mens is  rarely  produced  by  the  immoderate  use  of  the  former,  though 
often  by  that  of  the  latter.  It  is  also  affirmed  that  the  pulque  drinker 
is  commonly  long-lived,  whilst  the  reverse  is  the  case  with  regard  to 
persons  addicted  to  '  chinguirito,'  and  that  the  former  beverage,  not- 
withstanding its  somewhat  acid  taste,  is,  probably  on  account  of  the 
fecula  contained  in  it,  peculiarly  beneficial  to  women  suckling  their 
infants,  and  to  those  people  whose  constitutions  require  a  wholesome 
stimulant." 
Besides  this  pulque  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  the  chief  product  of 
6 
