THE QUARTERLY 



JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 



JULY, 1870. 



L BEER, SCIENTIFICALLY AND SOCIALLY 

 CONSIDERED. 



By James Samuelson, Editor. 



During a visit which I paid last year to Germany, the Tyrol, and 

 Switzerland, I was greatly struck with the fact that in countries 

 where beer is the national beverage, the humbler classes are com- 

 paratively sober ; whilst in those parts where wine, even the thin 

 wine of the country, and ardent spirits usurp the place of the milder 

 beverage, there is a nearer approximation to the habits of our own 

 people — in other words, there is a large amount of drunkenness. 



In publishing elsewhere a short account of my observations,* I 

 ventured to express the opinion that the man who should succeed 

 in introducing into Britain and bringing into general consumption 

 a mild, brisk, sparkling beverage such as one gets abroad, would be 

 a greater benefactor to his people than the most self-denying devoted 

 advocate of teetotalism, and some of the most influential organs in 

 the country, and notably three, t have more or less emphatically 

 endorsed this view in their criticisms. What is still more satisfac- 

 tory, I have received inquiries concerning the difference between 

 the processes of manufacture of the English and German beer, from 

 persons who have the will and ability to carry out my suggestion, 

 whilst German beer is daily more sought after, and in our large 

 towns, such as London, Manchester, and Liverpool, it may readily 

 be procured, though the cost is rather high owing to the limited 

 consumption. Instead, therefore, of having over-estimated the im- 

 portance of the beer question, I find that it is far more deserving of 

 consideration than I had imagined, and after having directed my 

 attention to it, and inquired further into its scientific and social 

 aspects, I have arrived at the conclusion that there are few subjects 

 of greater national importance to us as Englishmen. 



One of the journals to which reference has been made, J has gone 

 so far as to say that " wholesome beer and wholesome recreation 



* 'The German Working Man.' Longmans. 



f 'The Illustrated London News,.' January 1 ; 'The Pall Mall Gazette,' 

 January 8 ; ' The Gardener's Chronicle,' March 19. 

 X ' The Pall Mall Gazette.' 

 VOL. VII. Y 



