BEVERAGES IN WAR-TIME 73 



for bread-making, which in many parts of the country 

 is entirely dependent on the distillery product. About 

 twenty distilleries were engaged in yeast production 

 in 1907, and some of them turned out as much as 30 

 to 40 tons of yeast per week at ^30 to ^40 per ton. 

 In these the alcohol had almost become a by-product. 

 But is yeast in this amount necessary for bread- 

 making? There seems no question that of late years 

 the baker has been extravagant in his use of yeast, 

 and that equally good bread can be baked with a 

 much smaller supply. And in many parts of Scot- 

 land and the North of England the bakers do not 

 depend on distillery yeast at all. If the prejudices of 

 the bakers against a departure from a luxurious 

 method can be overcome, there seems no reason why 

 the distilleries should not be shut down and the 

 present stock of spirits drawn on for industrial pur- 

 poses. A certain amount of grain would thus be 

 freed for consumption. But for financial reasons this 

 could only be done as a last resource, to which it may 

 be hoped the country may not have to resort. 



The discussion of the food value of alcohol and 

 beer at such length has left but little time for other 

 beverages, but their importance as foods is compara- 

 tively small. Tea and coffee as such have practically 

 no value in themselves as foods. Those ascetic 

 and rather superior persons who drink tea or coffee 

 without milk or sugar, obtain no food from them, and 

 I am afraid must be classified among drug takers, for 

 the only constituent worth mentioning is caffeine, 

 which stimulates the brain and rouses to wakefulness 

 and relieves fatigue. On the other hand, the addition 

 of sugar or milk or cream gives some value to these 

 beverages. In the days of abundance before the war 

 I had once the curiosity to estimate the food value of 

 the sugar taken in coffee by one individual, who, I 



