M A L \ 
M A L 
-ried according to the better judgment of the party ereft- 
jno-. The fides and bottoms of the flues fliould be plnf- 
tered. The platform of the kiln (hould, in all cafes, be 
well rammed with earth, and made perfectly level before 
laying out the flues. Iron grate-doors fliould be hung on 
hinges, in a recel's, at the mouth of each flue, to prevent 
their being choked with large pieces of cinder, or other 
fubitances. Tbefe doors fliould (hut and open at pleafure, 
as maybe found neceflary in carrying on the bufinefs. 
MALT-LIQ'UOR. The liquors prepared from malt 
have different names as well as different virtues, proper¬ 
ties, and ufes, both from the different manners of prepar¬ 
ing the malt, whence they are diltiuguiftied into pale arid 
brown ; and from the different manners of preparing or 
brewing the liquors themfelves, whence they are divided 
into beer and ale, Jlrong and /mail, new and old. 
1. Malt-liquor is either paje or brown, as the malt is 
more or lefs dried on the kiln ; that which is the flendereft 
dried tinging the liquor leaft in brewing, and therefore 
being called "pale ; whereas that higher dried, and as, it were 
roalted, makes it of a higher colour. A mixture of both 
thefe makes an amber colour ; whence feveral of thefe li¬ 
quors take their name. Now, it is certain, the pale malt 
has moll of the natural grain in it, and is therefore the 
moft nou-rifliing; but, for the fame reafon, it requires a 
llronger conftitution to digefl it. Tliofe who drink much 
of it, are ufually fat and fleek in their bloom, but are of¬ 
ten cut off by fudden fevers; or, if they avoid this, they 
fall early into a diltempered old age. The brown malt 
makes a drink much lefs vifeid, and fitter to pafs the fe¬ 
veral drainers of the body; but, if very ftrong, it may 
lead on to the fame inconveniences with the pale; though 
a Angle debauch wears off much more eafily in the brown. 
Dr. Quincy obferves, that the belt pale-malt liquors are 
thofe brewed with hard waters, as tliofe of fprings and wells, 
becaufe the mineral particles, with which thele waters are 
impregnated, help to prevent the cohefions of thofe drawn 
from the grain, and enable them to pafs the proper (ecre- 
tions the better; as the vifeid particles of the grain do 
likewife defend thefe from doing the mifehief they might 
otherwife occaflon. But fofter waters feem beft fuited to 
draw out the fubftances of high-dried malts, which retain 
many fiery particles in their contexture, and are therefore 
beft loft in a fmooth vehicle. 
2. As to the difference in the preparation of malt-li¬ 
quors, it chiefly confllls in the ufe of hops, as in beer; 
or in the more fparing ufe of them, as in ale. The dif¬ 
ference made by hops is beft difeovered from the nature 
and quality of the hops themfelves; thefe are known to 
be a grateful bitter; in their compofition, therefore, with 
this liquor, they add fomewhat of an alkaline'nature, i. e. 
particles that are aftive and rigid : by which means, 
the ropy vifeid parts of the malt are more divided and 
fubtilized ; and are, therefore, not only rendered more 
eafy of digelfion and fecretion in the body, but alfo, 
while in the liquor, they prevent it from running into 
fucli cohefions as would make it ropy, vapid, and four. 
For want of this, in unhopped drinks, that clammy fweet- 
nefs, which they retain after working, foon turns them 
acid and unfit for ufe; which happens (boner or later, in 
proportion to the Strength they receive from the malt, and 
the comminution they have undergone from fermentation. 
It is a common opinion, that ale is more diuretic than 
beer, that is, liquor lefs hopped more than that with a 
greater quantity of hops in it; which may hold in fome 
conftitutions, becaufe, ale being more fmooth, foftening, 
and relaxing, where urine is to be promoted by enlarging 
the paffage, as in thin dry conftitutions, this is the moll 
likely to effeft it. But, where the promoting of urine is 
to be done by attenuating and breaking the juices, and 
rendering them more fluid, it is certainly beft anfwered 
by thofe drinks which are well hopped. 
3. The different ltrengths of malt liquors alfo make 
their effefts different. The ftronger they are, the more 
vifeid parts they carry into the blood ; and though the 
21,0 
fpirituous parts make thefe imperceptible at firft, yet, when 
thofe are evaporated, which will be in a few hours, the 
others will be fenfibly felt by pains in the head, naufeouf- 
nefs at the ftomach, and lafiitude or liftlefl'nefs to motion. 
This, thofe are the rnoft fenfible of who have experienced 
the extremes of drinking thefe liquors and wines; for a 
debauch of wine they find much fooner worn off, and they 
are much more lively and brisk afterwards, than after in- 
temperately uling malt-liquors, whofe vifeid remains will 
be long before they are lhaken off. Malt-liquors, there¬ 
fore, are, in general, the more wholefome for being final], 
i.e. of fuch a ftrength as is liable to carry a fmall degree 
of warmth into the ftomach, but not fo great as to pre¬ 
vent their being proper diluters of the neceflary food. 
Indeed, in robult people, or thofe who labour hard, the 
vii'cidities of the drink may be broken into a convenient 
nourishment; but, in perlons of another habit and way of 
living, they ferve rather to promote obftruftions and ill 
humours. 
4. The age of malt liquors is the laft thing by which 
they are rendered more or lefs wholefome. Age feems to 
do nearly the fame thing as hops ; for thofe liquors which 
are longeft ke’pt are certainly lefs vifeid ; age breaking the 
vjfcid parts, and, by degrees, rendering them fmaller, and 
fitter for fecretion. But this is always determined ac¬ 
cording to their ftrength; in proportion to which they 
will fooner or later come to their full 'perfeftion, as well 
as decay ; for, when ale or beer is kept till its particles are 
broken and comminuted as far as they are capable, then it 
is that they are beft; and, beyond this, they will be con¬ 
tinually on the decay, till the finer fpirits have entirely 
efcaped and the remainder becomes vapid and four. 
MA'LT-MAN,;/! A dealer in malt. 
MA'LT-MILL,y! A mill to grind malt. 
MA'LT-TAX, f. The fum of 750,000!. raifed every 
year by parliament, fince 1697, by a duty of 6d. on the 
bufliel of malt, and a proportionable fum on certain li¬ 
quors, fuch as cider and perry, which might otherwile 
prevent the confumption of m;ft. This is under the ma¬ 
nagement of the commiftioners of the exeke; and is in¬ 
deed itfelf no other than the annual excife. In 1760, an 
additional perpetual excife of 3d. per bufnel was laid upon 
malt; and, in 1763, a proportional excife was laid upon 
cider and perry, but new-modelled in 1766. See p. 216. 
MA'LTA, an ifland in the Mediterranean, (ituated 
about fifty miles from the coaft of Sicily. Its length is 
computed to be twenty miles, its greateft breadth twelve, 
and its circumference lixty. “ Geographers (fays Denon) 
are not decided whether Malta (hould be annexed to Eu¬ 
rope or to Africa. The perlons of the Maltefe, their mo¬ 
ral character, complexion, and language, ought to deter¬ 
mine the quellion in favour of Africa.” By an aft of 
the Britifii parliament, however, (41 Geo. III. anno 1801.) 
it is now declared to be in Europe. 
Of the ancient hiltory of Malta, fcarcely any traces re¬ 
main ; and it is of little moment to inquire whether it 
was the Ogygia of Homer, (he does not call it Hyperia ;) 
whether it .vas once inhabited by giants ; and whether its 
prefent name was given to it by the Greeks in reference 
to its excellent honey, or by the Phoenicians, on account 
of its being a place of refuge. The molt ancient poffef- 
fors of Malta, of whom we have any certain account, 
were the Carthaginians ; from whom it was taken by the 
Romans; and yet, during the whole time that it continued 
under the power of thefe polite nations, it was almoft en¬ 
tirely barren. The foil was partly Tandy and partly rocky, 
having fcarcely any depth of earth ; and withal fo llony, 
that it was hardly capable of producing corn or any o her 
grain except cummin, and fome feeds of s fimilar nature. 
Its chief products were figs, melons, honey, cotton, and 
fome few other fruits and commodities, which the inha¬ 
bitants exchanged for corn ; and in this barren (late it 
feems to have continued till it came into the poffellion of 
the Maltefe knights. It laboured alfo under great fcarcity 
of water and tuel; upoa all which accounts ft was till 
that 
