212 PHYSIOLOGY. 



extracted by boiling, and then, by the addition of yeast, 

 alcohol is produced. The chief product is beer, which 

 contains from 2 to 5 per cent of alcohol. Hops and other 

 substances are usually added. Although the per cent of 

 alcohol in beer is low, the effect of beer-drinking is 

 marked. As in the case of wine, often the drinker takes 

 such enormous quantities of the liquor that the total 

 amount of alcohol introduced into the system is large, 

 and the effect correspondingly pronounced. In the case 

 of many beer drinkers there is apparent a continual state 

 of heaviness or lethargy, a sort of perpetual stupefaction, 

 which points significantly to the narcotic effect of alcohol. 

 It is said on good authority that in the city of Munich it 

 is rare to find a sound heart or sound kidneys; and 

 perhaps this is typical of many large cities where beer- 

 drinking is so widely prevalent. 



Distilled Liquors. Distilled liquors, or spirits, are 

 obtained from the wines and fermented liquors by the 

 process of distillation. This process depends on the fact 

 that alcohol boils at I73F., while water boils at 2i2F. 

 The still consists of a large boiler with a large tube rising 

 from the top, and this tube extends through, and is coiled 

 about in, a reservoir which is kept filled with cold water. 

 On heating the fermented liquid in the still up to 173 F., 

 the alcohol is converted into vapor. As this vapor passes 

 along the coil (known as the worm) the vapor is condensed 

 by the cold, and thus the alcohol is separated from the 

 water and other liquids, which boil at a higher tempera- 

 ture. By distilling wine a large part of the water is left 

 behind, and brandy is the result. Whisky is made by 

 distilling the fermented grains, especially rye and corn, 

 while rum is manufactured by the distillation of fermented 



