Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-08-27

goat SKIN swinging at his back. The
aqua miel in this stage is like green
water in appearance and taste. Soon
carbonic acid is formed, and it becomes
milky, and resembles in taste very
good cider. The amount of carbonic
acid contained is so great and the de-
composition so incredibly rapid that in
few hours it would become vinegar
if not closely watched. To prevent
this the pulque dulce, or sweet pulque,
is poured into a tinnacal-an oXhide
strapped to square wooden frame and
capable of holding a considerable
amount Of the liquid These tinnacals
are of various sizes, to meet the emer-
gencies of the situation. To the sweet
pulQue is added an equal proportion Of
milk, and then slight dose of infu-
sion of rennet. This is not enough to
coagulate it, but sufficient to induce (
slight amount of putrescence, as IN
cheese. The putrid odor and flavor of
pulque as sold in the pulquerias is due
to the rennet alone, for the belief that
this is caused by the flavor of the pig
SHAAAAs LII " A44SA4 IL IL VI OlS1C " mai hSl,
is entirely without foundation.
From the tinnacaI it is poured into
hogsheads by means of pigskins, and it
is transferred to the barrels of the
vendors from the hogshead of the
haciendado by means of the same
skins. These barrels are, as before
stated, large tierces or barricas. In
both in in,
the skin barely more than a few sec
onds or minutes before the transfer.
Throughout the Mediterranean region,
where wine is kept for years and years
in pigskins, the effect is only to give a
slight putrescent aftertaste, so faint
that only a cOnnoisseur would perceive
it. The rennet added in the tinnacal is
the real cause of the putrid flavor and
taste of pulque. This is removed in
private families by means of a chemi-
cal substance of a perfectly inocuous
character, and some housekeepers add
white sugar and others the Juice Of
oranges.
1t is a regrettable fact that in the
pulqueshOps this beverage is made in
toxicating to a maddening degree upon
some characters by the addition of mar
tijuana. This marihuana is an eXtrac-
ton of what is known in the United
States as the '''jimson" weed and the
datura stramonium of our home drug
stores. The effect upon the nerves is
singular, and it almost forces men
into physical struggles of which they
are unconscious at the time. The gov
eminent has made and is making every
effort to stop the sale of this noxious
compound. The number of deaths from
fights in pulqueriasis is incredible.
Those whom the poison does not mad
den it stupefies, and in every great fes-
tival, particularly when there are pub
lie displays of fireworks, the police
have hundreds of persons to look after
those who are absolutely helpless from
drinking drugged pulque. The vendors
at times become so bold in the sale of
this drink they declare they must sell
it to those wanting it or lose their
trade, regardless of the struggles of the
government to remove the evil conse-
quences flowing from it.
The leaves of the pulque plant are
long and pointed, with prickles along
the edge. Sometimes these leaves are
very large, and the punches of them
springing from the common stock are
enormous. The bruised leaves are
made into a kind Of paper, rather a
tough, stiff and hard paper, and they
are also used in their natural state as
a protecting thatch for the roofs of the
common huts or houses occupied by the
poems. A kind of thread is also made
from the fibrOus texture of the leaves,
and rough needle and pin is made
from the thorn, and from the root a
cheap and palatable food is made. It
is not matter of surprise, then, that
the peOn class almost worship and
idolize the pulque plant. It is said
that Xochitl, a Toltec woman, revealed
TO her race in the eleventh century the
method Of extracting from the pulque
plant this drink, which has been ever
since both tie delight and curse of the
MeXicans.