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Show H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. them from Europe. Befides the name Xonacatl which is .given to tho oru·o ·n · , 'and that of Xonocapetec, by which name a certam pla.c.e ha been known fince the time of the Mexican kingR; they let us under-ftand that this plant ·was very anci~nt in that country, and uever trlmfplanted there from Europe. . . The Maguei called by the Mexi€.:ans, Met/; by .the S.pamards, Pt:a; and by many anthors, the American aloe, from 1ts bemg very :fimilar to the real aloe, is one of the moil: common and moil: ufeful plants of. Mexico. Hernandez ·def-cribes nineteen fpecies·, ftill more different in their interior fubftance than in their external fenn and colour of leaves. In the feventh book of our hiftory we iliall have occafion to' explain the great advantages the Mexicans derived from th~fe plants,. and the h1credible profit the Spaniards now make of them. The lczotl is a fpecics of mountain palm, pretty lofty, and generally with ~ double trunk. Its branches form the figure of a fan, and. irs leaves a fpear. Its flowers are white and odorous, which the Spaniards preferve; and it's fruit, at firfl: 1ight, refcmbles the mufa,. but is altogether ufeleiS. Of its leaves they did. formerly and ftill. make fine mats; and. the Mexicans gGt thread from. it. for their manufaCtures.. This f5. not the only palm of that country. llefides the Royal.' Palm, fuperior to all others in the beauty of its branches, the cocoapalm,. and the date-palms (n)., there are. other fpecies worthy to be 11en tioned. The ~auhcojolli, is. a palm of middle fize,, who!e trunk is in-· acceffible to quadrupeds, from being ·armed round with long, hard, and ver.y lharp thorns. Its· branches have the figure of an eleg~nt feather, between which its fruit hangs in clufters, being round, large. as the common: walnut,. and like it con:Gfting of four parts, that is. a: fl i~ at fidl:. green· and afterwards blackilh, a yellow pulp ftrongl y adhenng to the fi:one, a round and very hard frone, and within the ftone a kernel or white fubilance .. The Ixhuatl is fmaller and has not more than :fix or feven bran.ches,. for as foon as a new one buds, one of the old one's withers. - Of U1) Befidcs th.e Dnte palm proper to that country, there is alfo the 'Barbr~ry date-paltt1 •. D·1 1·t es abr e fold ·m ~he· .m onth . of June ' in tho ma' rkets of Mev.. ico , A nge 1o po I'1 , anc1 ot 1lC l' ~ltles; ut notwuhfinndmg then· fwcetncfs they are little in demand. its H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. its leaves they made bafkets and mats, and at prefent they make B 0 '0 K r .. hats, and other conveniences of them. The bark to the depth of "' "'_..,,., 1 ,._""""' three fingers, is nothing but a mafs of membranes, about a. foot long, thin and flexible, but alfo fl:rong; of a number of which joined together, the poor people make matraffcs. The palm Teoic.:zotl is alfo fmalJ. T he fubfl:ance of the trunk which is foft,. i.s furrounded with leaves of a particular fubfiance,. round, gt:ofs, white, fmooth, and iliining, which appears like fo many il1clls . heaped upon ea h other, with which, formerly the Indians, as they do now, adorned the arches of leaves which they made for their feftiv.als. There is aoother palm,. which bear.s cocoas or nuts of oil , fo· called, (termed by the Spaniards Cocos de Aaite; ) becaufe they ?btain ·~ good oil from it. The cocoa of oil, is a nut in figure and' m :fize l1ke the nutmeg; within which there is a· white·, oily, eatable· kernel, covered by a thin purple pellicle. The oil has a fweet' fceflt, but is too ea:Gly condenfed, and then becomes a white mafs foft, and whi.t e as ' [now. . For the exoe!lence; v.ariety, and plenty of its timber, that country· ~s ~qual to any 111 the world; as there is no fort of climate wanting' m 1t, every one produces its, peculiar wood. Befides oaks, firs, pines~ cypre.ffes, beeches, a{hes, hazels, poplars, and many others common· in Europe, there are entire woods of cedars and eb0nies, the two· fpecies moil: valued by the ancients .: there is· an abundance of \ Agalloco er wood of aloe, in Mixtec;:a; of Tapinzecan, in Michu-acan; . aoba, in ~hiapan Palo Gateado ;· which we might c:1H creeping 'WfJod,. m Zoncohuhcan, (now Zongolica) '; Camote in the mountains of Tezcoco ;. Granadillo or red. ebony, in M·ix·teca and elfewhere . Mizquitl or real. Acacia, .. Tepehuaxin, Copti, Jabin, Guayacan o;. holy wood,. Ayaquahuitl, Oyametl, the wood of Zopilote, and innumerable other woods valuable for their durability, their hardne[r, and weight (o), their pliablenefs or eaunefs of being cut, the elegance of (~) Plin~, in his Natural Hifiory, lib. xvi. cap. 4• mentions no other woods of great ft>ect.lla wotght, in water, than thefc four, ehony, box, larch, and barked cork; but in• ~cx.1co there or~ man~ trees, whof~ wood docs not float in water, as the G uayncan, , l npmzcran, J :~b1n, ~lllbrahncha, &c. The ~ilbrahachn, which means break-axe, is fo · culled becaufe m c.utting- it the. axe is frcl'luently broke by the hurdncfs of the wood. their. |