FERMENTS AND ARTIFICIAL FERMENTATIONS. 83 



the sugar into alcohol and carbonic acid, and this con- 

 stitutes an aerated drink, which is very agreeable when 

 well made, and especially if it has been carefully 

 bottled before fermentation is over. 



Koumiss is made of soured and fermented mare's 

 milk, and is much used in Eussia as a refreshing 

 drink, from which an alcoholic liquor may be distilled. 



Many kinds of brandy are made from the fruits 

 and seeds of different plants. Kirschwasser is the 

 alcohol produced by distilling cherries or geans ; rum 

 is made from sugar-cane, arrack from rice. Gin, 

 distilled from the juniper-berry, is largely consumed 

 by the labouring classes in England, as corn-brandy is 

 in the French drinking-shops. 



The savage Malay and Polynesian races prepare 

 fermented liquors from the sap of various plants. 

 Such is kava, made from masticated roots, and steeped 

 in an infusion of Piper methysticum. In this case, 

 the ptzalin, a ferment contained in the human 

 saliva, transforms the fecula into a sugar susceptible 

 to fermentation. The operators sit round a large 

 vessel containing the roots steeped in water, and each 

 man takes a piece, which he masticates conscientiously 

 until it is sufficiently impregnated with the salivary 

 ferment. This process is revolting to our ideas, and 

 few Europeans would touch a liquor which has been 

 prepared in such a way; but this is doubtless an 

 educated prejudice which would not occur to a native 

 of Oceana. 



