MALT LIQUORS. 



269 



tive tables, from which it appears that while the United States quite 

 holds her own in the quantity of distilled liquors consumed, she is still 

 far behind the other great nations in the consumption of the milder 

 alcoholic liquors. 



Comparative summary of the consumption per capita of population in the United Slates, the 

 United Kingdom, France, and Germany, of distilled spirits, wines, and malt liquors dur- 

 ing each year from 1881 to 1885, inclusive. 



[From original official data. ] 



1 No data. 



NOTE. The years referred to arc, fur France and Great Britain, calendar years; for the United 

 States, the five years ending June 30, 1886; for Germany in the case of beer, the tive years ending 

 March 31, 1885, and in the case of spirits the tive years ending March 31, 1881, these being the latest 

 years for which data were obtainable. 



It is hardly necessary, after the above showing, to dwell upon the im- 

 portance of this article of daily consumption, or the necessity cf a 

 thorough acquaintance with its manufacture, composition, and the na- 

 ture and extent of its adulterations. There is no beverage that com- 

 pares with it in the amount consumed by the people except water, and 

 possibly milk. But little supervision has been exercised over its manu- 

 facture and sale, except the rigorous enforcement by the Government of 

 its demands for a share in the profits of its manufacture. 



THE PROCESS OF BREWING. 



Brewing, or the art of preparing an alcoholic drink from starchy 

 grains by fermentation, is of very ancient origin. It was practiced by 

 the Egyptians, and the Greeks and Romans learned the art from them. 

 Herodotus speaks of the Egyptians making wine from corn, and it was 

 undoubtedly practiced by the Greeks in the fifth century before Christ, 

 as the use of malt beverages is mentioned in the writings of ^schylus 

 and Sophocles, poets of that period. It is also mentioned by Xenophon, 

 400 B. 0. The Eomans are also supposed to have derived a knowledge 

 of the art from the Egyptians, and Pliny and Tacitus both speak of its 

 use amoung the Gauls and Germans of Spain and France. 



It is supposed that the art was introduced into Britain by the Eo- 

 mans and acquired from the natives by the Sasous. According to Yer- 

 stigan "this excellent and healthsome liquor, beere, anciently called ale. 



