Page:Mexico of the Mexicans.djvu/49

Rh The national beverage of Mexico is pulque, which is as ubiquitous in the Republic as is beer in Germany or tea in Australia. It is made from the fermented juice of the agave Americana, and in appearance is white and viscid, with an unpleasant resemblance to soapsuds. Its effect when that of the strongest quality is freely drunk is stupefying and deadening in the extreme. The word pulque is of South American origin, the real Aztec term for the drink being octli. In ancient Mexico, indulgence to excess was forbidden to all save the very old and certain grades of warriors; and the establishment of some such measure is devoutly to be wished for at the present time, when the peasantry is deeply immersed in bondage to this insidious and brutalising beverage, to procure which they will pledge almost the last garment which stands between themselves and nakedness. Large pulquerias, or establishments for the sale of pulque, are prominent in the lower quarters of all the great cities, and these frequently bear grandiose and heroic titles which scarcely match with their degrading purpose. The exteriors of these pulque palaces are frequently painted and decorated in the most gaudy and extravagant manner, their façades forming a marked contrast to the sordidness of their interiors. It is not too much to say that the native abuse of pulque is as much detrimental to the progress of the Mexican Indian race as was the Russian consumption of vodka, or the excessive whisky drinking in the lower parts of Scottish and Irish towns, to the labouring classes in these countries.

When in January, 1916, the governor of the Federal District issued a proclamation prohibiting the use and sale of pulque within the limits of his jurisdiction, his action was applauded by practically all the better classes, and the bold stand taken by him gained for him the feeling that he was a man of courage who had resolved to attack one of the great social evils at the very root. For a time the measure seemed