1870.] Beer, Scientifically and Socially Considered. 303 



be said to be composed of two main constituents, albumen and starch, 

 and during the germinating process the albumen is converted into 

 a new substance, diastase, so called from its property of being able 

 to split up the other constituent of the grain, starch, into dextrin 

 or gum, and sugar. The object of this chemical change in nature 

 is to supply the embryo of the plant with a soluble pabulum or 

 nutriment ; but as in malting the germination is arrested at an 

 early stage, the starch is converted into soluble gum and sugar, 

 merely to be extracted in the mashing process which follows at the 

 brewery. The result of this extraction is to produce the " worts," 

 or " wort," the stock, so to speak, of the beer. 



The morphological changes which take place in the growth of 

 the barley, either during germination or subsequently, are deeply 

 interesting, and an illustrated account of them will be found in 

 Mr. Prescott's work referred to, whilst a detailed description of 

 the chemical changes to which the grain is subject is contained in 

 the various articles on "Beer" (more especially Dr. Muspratt's) in 

 the Dictionaries already quoted. These are, however, beside our 

 purpose, and we must now pass on to the other materials used in 

 brewing, namely, hops and yeast, both of which are as interesting 

 as malt to the chemist and botanist. 



The hop-plant belongs to the same botanical group as the stinging 

 nettle ( Urticacem) and is cultivated chiefly in the counties of Kent, 

 Sussex, Surrey, Worcester, and Hereford, and also imported from 

 the Continent. The bitter principle which it contains, and which is 

 extracted in the boiling process of the brewer, is called " lupulite" 

 and it is found in the fruit, which is so well known as hardly to need 

 description. For the guidance of my readers, however, I will extract 

 a short account of it from Mr. Prescott's work, accompanied by such 

 of the figures as seem essential : — 



" The fruit of the plant," he says on p. 40, " (technically called 

 strobUm), which is so largely used in brewing, consists of a series of 

 delicate green, semi-transparent bracts, attached to a common stalk 

 (Fig. 4) and overlapping at their edges in a very elegant manner. 

 The seeds are minute, flattened, conical berries of a light-brown 

 colour ; they are attached to the bases of the bracts (Fig. 5) which 

 fold over at their lower edges to afford them additional support, 

 and each inner seed-containing bract is covered by another exter- 

 nally. Attached to the outer seed-coat is a beautiful transparent 

 membrane, and on this lie, in countless numbers, minute golden- 

 coloured oval bodies winch are the lupulite so valuable to the 

 brewer (Fig. 6). These granules are abundant on the bracts, espe- 

 cially at their bases, where the seed is lodged ; they are also present 

 in large quantities on the leaves of the plant. When one of these 

 granules is placed in water under the microscope, and a drop of 

 sulphuric or nitric acid is added, it immediately bursts, and the 



