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Pulque- the Mexican National Drink

PULQUE-THE MEXICAN NATIONAL DRINK. - In a letter from Mexico to the New York Sun, the writer says: "This liquid is distilled from the maguey plant. It has a disagreeable smell and taste, but no description can possibly convey an adequate idea of its hurtful effects upon the prosperity of the country. In the first place, the most fertile and productive lands of the upper plain of Mexico are altogether given up to the production of the maguey plant. And when it is remembered that a maguey takes often years to come to perfection, and that very little attention is required in the meantime, it will be evident the employment this species of agriculture gives to the laboring class is far below that required for the cultivation of any kind of grain. Yet it is by this very class of persons that pulque is most drank, and consequently the reals of the workingman find their way into the pockets of the rich owners of haciendas who spend their profits in Paris or Brussels, while the working people receive no substantial benefit from the principal agricultural pursuit of the country. Besides, the effect of pulque drinking is horribly enervating and demoralizing. Taken in moderation it is an excellent tonic to the stomach; but taken in excess the effect is fearful, as it produces the worst kind of intoxication. I have never seen so many drunken people as in the City of Mexico, where the 'pulquerias' are more frequent than gin palaces in London, or gin mills in the Bowery. A pulque drunk lasts about twenty-four hours, and as one plant produces every day about four quarts, just about enough to intoxicate a pulque drinker, and this plant lasts for six months or more, the owner of a small plot of ground can remain half drunk, as indeed many of them do, for many years. The enormous amount of liquor that is consumed yearly can be estimated from the fact that in the City of Mexico alone the consumption is at the rate of a pint a day for every inhabitant, and that a special pulque train runs twice a day between Apam, a village in the heart of the maguey district, and Mexico City, the freight from pulque on each train amounting to seven hundred and eight hundred dollars. ram. "The maguey yields another liquor, which is not so deleterious in its effects as a drink or as an object of labor as is pulque. This is the vino mezeal, which is a species of brandy distilled from the juice of the maguey; and it is not unlike Jamaica It is manufactured in large quantities at Apam, where the dry and cold temperature of the great Mexican plain produces the maguey in its highest perfection. At Tequila, a little town in the State of Jalisco, to the north of Guadalajara, a very superior kind of mezeal is manufactured, which takes its name from the town, and is really a very palatable beverage. But, in spite of the usefulness of the maguey, supplying as it does, fruit, drink, yam, hemp, paper, needles, and brushes, it is one of the banes of this favored land."

CELLULOID.-Celluloid, one of the most remarkable of modern inventions, bids fair to be not less extensively or variously used than vulcanized rubber. It is produced by mixing gum-camphor with gun-cotton, and subjecting the com. bination to a high test of pressure and heat. The result is a hard product of extraordinary toughness and elasticity. It can be made plastic again and moulded in any required form. Any color can be given to it by the use of coloring matter during the process of manufacture. It is extensively used as a substitute for ivory, which it resembles so closely that it is sometimes difficult to detect the difference. It is said to equal ivory in strength and elasticity. It has proved a good material for piano and organ keys, backs of brushes, looking-glass frames, handles for knives, forks, umbrellas, and many other articles. It is much cheaper than ivory. It is also used with much success to imitate tortoise-shell, malachite, amber, pink coral, and other costly materials. In imitation of tortoise-shell, it is made into combs, napkin-rings, match-boxes and card-cases. Imita tions of pink coral jewelry are made and sold at prices much below those of the genuine. It is also used as a substitute for porcelain in making dolls' heads. The frames of eye-glasses, opera-glasses and spectacles are made of it. More recently it has come into use in combination with linen, cotton or paper, fo. shirt bosoms, cuffs and collars. The material has a hard, glistening surface, like that of newly laundried linen. PETROLEUM, OR ROCK OIL. - This is a liquid, inflammable substance, including benzole, naphtha, paraffine, asphatum, and various other articles. From time immemorial it has been found on the borders of the Caspian Sea, and to a limited extent it has been used for illuminating purposes. It has also been found in Burmah, Trinidad, Canada, and the United States. It was used by Indians as a medicament in different parts of New York and Pennsylvania; they found it floating on the surface of some of the streams flowing into the large rivers. It was first distilled at Pittsburg, in 1850, and about that time used for illuminating. It was in 1859 that the first successful boring was made, at Oil Creek, and shortly after the wells yielded about 1,000 barrels a day. Soon after it was found to richly repay well-sinking in Ohio, Virginia, and other States. Before many years millions after millions of barrels were brought to the surface. Chemists assert that the oil is the proceeds of animal bodies crushed in the subterraneous recesses of the earth, and their arguments seem to prove this theory. U. S. surgeons have found it very effectual in curing gangrenous wounds. It has also many other valuable curative properties. In 1880 it was found in large quantities in Russian territory, and extensive works have been constructed to raise it and transport it to different parts of that empire. It now (1881) counts