September 5, 1890.] 



SCIENCE. 



131 



such daily records to the Commissioner of Internal Revenue 

 at Washington. If in such returns the employment of un- 

 wholesome material was reported, an investigation would be 

 made by the proper revenue officer, and an explanation de- 

 manded from the brewer. Thus some sort of check is 

 exercised over the use of poisonous materials. The produc- 

 tion of distilled and fermented liquors in the United States 

 since 1863, when a revenue was imposed on the same, is 

 shown, at intervals of five years, in table. 



Table III. — Showing Production of Distilled and Fer- 

 mented Liquors, at Intervals of Five Years, in the 

 United States. 



While the production of distilled liquors has only increased 

 five times, that of fermented liquors is fourteen times, what 

 they were in 1863. 



One fluid ounce or half a wine-glass of whiskey, rum, or 

 g'in, containing fifty per cent by volume of absolute alcohol, 

 is equivalent in alcoholic strength to five ounces of light red 

 wines, as claret; eight ounces of well-fermented cider; to 

 nine ounces of ale or porter; to ten ounces of lager beer 

 (over half a pint); and to twenty-three ounces of American 

 -weiss beer. The intoxicating effects, however, would be 

 more rapid and pronounced in the case of the ardent spirits 

 than they would be with the equivalent amounts of beers, 

 •owing to the more concentrated form and consequently 

 quicker absorption in the circulation of the alcohol in the 

 former as compared with its dilution in the latter beverage. 



Edgar Eichaeds. 



[To be continued.] 



THE STANDARD OF LIVING IN THE UNITED STATES. '^ 



In discussing the standard of living in the United States, I shall 

 <;onsider the producing classes as the people. They constitute the 

 great majority, embody the vital forces of the nation, and repre- 

 sent its life and distinctive character. 



An analysis of the conditions which mould the life of the people 

 represeutuig the civilization of the world leaves no room for doubt 

 that the American standard of living is the highest known. The 

 barrier of primogeniture, the repression of caste, the compulsion 

 of social distinctions, are obstructions in the path of ambition 

 which have no existence here. In this country there are no bar- 

 riers to wealth or station which capacity and persistence cannot 

 sweep away. Physical influences are here in harmony with the 



' Under the name of distilled liquors are Included whiskey, rum, gin, 

 1iigh--wines, and alcohol; and under the name of fermented liquors are in- 

 -cluded beer, lager beer, ale, porter, and similar fermented liquors (Ann. 

 Jlpt. Com. Int. Kev. 1889). 



2 Abstract of an address before the Section of Economic Science and 

 "Statistics of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, at 

 Indianapolis, Ind., on Aug. 20, 1890, by J. Bichards Dodge, vice-president of the 

 section. 



intellectual. The western world, in its most temperate zone, 

 with long reaches towards the tropics and approaches towards the 

 north pole, with a breadth bordered by the two great oceans of the 

 world, and spanning practically the possibilities of climate by 

 altitude, is in extraordinai-y measure independent of other lands. 

 Its resources invite development; and social and political freedom 

 stimulate noblest daring and highest enterprise in their utilization. 

 Here the laborer stands on a relatively elevated plane. If native 

 born, he has no conception of the limitations by which the life of 

 his brother in other civilized countries is restricted. He requires 

 more and better house room, food in larger quantity and greater 

 variety, clothing for his family, hooks and facilities of education 

 for his children, and something for social life, amusement, and 

 even charities. He is apt to be interested in politics, in social or 

 beneficiary or religious organizations, and oftentimes in all of 

 these. I would not aver that his foreign brother does not possess 

 similar tastes and preferences, but hold that his exercise and en- 

 joyment of them are in more restricted measures, under the limi- 

 tations of purse and social usages. 



Want is not unknown here ; the poor and afflicted are every- 

 where. A comparison with the most favored foreign country 

 will suffice. The Tenth Census returned 66,203 paupers, or 1.33 

 to every thousand of the population. The record of 1850 was 

 50,353, or 3.17 to every thousand. This shows a gratifying de- 

 crease in pauperism in a period remarkable for increase of national 

 wealth. In England and Wales the number of paupers in 1873 

 receiving relief in the several unions and parishes under boards of 

 guardians was 887,345, arid in 1888 the number was 825,509. The 

 returns do not quite cover the entire population, which was 38,- 

 638,804 in 1888, but assuming that they cover all of England and 

 Wales, the number would be 38.8 for every thousand people. This 

 is in violent contrast to the situation in this country. 



In the use of food our people are excessive and even wasteful. 

 According to accepted statistics. Great Britain consumes an aver- 

 age meat ration not over two-thirds as large as the American; 

 France scarcely half as large; Germany, Austria, and Italy still 

 less. But the laborer's dietary is improving in those countries. It 

 has already greatly improved in England. The average consump- 

 tion of meat in the United States is probably not less than 175 

 pounds per annum. Of other civilized nations, only Great Britain 

 exceeds 100, and many of them scarcely average 50 pounds. The 

 consumption of the cereals, by man and beast, is three times as 

 much, in proportion to population, as in Europe. For the past 

 ten years the average has been 45 bushels for each unit of popula- 

 tion, wliile the usual Eviropean consumption does not vary greatly 

 from sixteen bushels per annum. While all is not used as food 

 for man, no small part of it contributes to the meat supply. 



The average consumption of wheat for bread is nearly five 

 bushels, and about three bushels of maize and one bushel of oats 

 and rye, or approximately nine bushels for each inhabitant. The 

 average European consumption of wheat is about 3.5 bushels. In 

 the consumption of fruits, the difference between this and other 

 countries is marked with vmusual emphasis. Small fruits, 

 orchard fruits of all kinds, and tropical fruits, as well as melons 

 of many varieties, are in profuse and universal daily use in cities 

 and towns, and in the country the kinds locally cultivated are 

 still cheaper and more abundant in their respective localities, 

 though scarce in the regions of recent settlement and those un- 

 suited to a wide range of species. The consumption of vegetables 

 is not excessive. 



The American people are no less profuse in clothing than in 

 food. This country is a favored land in fibre production. More 

 than four hundred millions of dollars is the comfortable sum 

 which represents the present fibre product; in the form of cotton, 

 wool, hemp, and flax. There is also experimental production of 

 silk, ramie, sisal, jute, and many others suited to the climate, 

 some of which will ultimately become the foundation of indus- 

 tries. More than half of the material for the cotton factories of 

 the world is grown here, and a third of that is manufactured and 

 mostly consumed at home. If 65,000,000 people require one-sixth 

 of the cotton manufactured in Europe and America for the use of 

 nearly 450,000,000 inhabitants of these continents, and of the 

 millions in India, China, Japan, and other countries obtaining 



