ALCOHOL; ITS HISTORY, AND ITS EFFECTS UPON SOCIETY.
By W. H. Riley
By W. H. Riley, M.D., Superintendent of Colorado Sanitarium, Boulder, Colo. FROM the chemical properties of alcohol, and its close relation to other powerful chemical agents, we would hardly suppose it could be used as a beverage without dilution. Only in rare instances, where the stomach has long been accustomed to strong liquors, can alcohol be drunk without mixture. We find, accordingly, that alcohol is chiefly consumed in other beverages, such as wine, beer, whisky, etc. As we have previously remarked, all intoxicating beverages contain alcohol as their characteristic principle, which is produced by a variety of methods. Wine is obtained from the juice of grapes. This, when expressed, is sweet and wholesome, but changes greatly in this respect within a very short time. The expressed juice is exposed to the air for several days, during which time yeast cells and germs from the air drop into it, and fermentation is begun. The sugar is decomposed in a few days to alcohol and carbonic acid, and the liquid no longer has its sweet, pleasant taste. After the yeast settles, the liquid is drawn off. If some sugar has not been decomposed, a sweet wine is obtained. Red wine is the product of fermenting red grapes with their skins; but if the skins be removed, a white wine is the result. Various colors and flavors are obtained by storing the wine in casks made from different kinds of wood. The amount of alcohol in wine varies. It is stated on good authority that fermented liquors can contain not more than 17 per cent., but the addition of distilled spirits to weaker beverages sometimes causes fermented liquors to contain far in excess of this proportion. From a table by Brande, the alcoholic strength of wines ranges from 8 per cent. in elderberry and Rhine wines to 25 per cent. in Madeira and raisin wines. Other intoxicating drinks are made in a similar way from the juices of different fruits, as cider from the juice of the apple. Anything containing sugar may be fermented and alcohol produced therefrom. Most alcoholic drinks, however, are produced from substances containing starch, which can be converted into sugar, the cost of production being much less than if fruits are used. Perhaps the cheapest and most extensively used of common intoxicants is beer. This is made in large quantities from grain, especially barley, at a comparatively small cost. These grains are composed largely of starch (68 per cent. in barley), which is changed to sugar, from which alcohol is procured by fermentation. The process by which the starch is changed to sugar is very interesting. In this process, some of the most wonderful operations of nature are employed to minister to an end for which they were never made. To bring about this change, the grain is made to sprout. The grain is first steeped in water for a time, then drawn out and laid in heaps or beds to heat and sweat. A warm temperature is maintained, and the heat, combined with the moisture, awakens the life principle in the seed. This arousing of the vitalizing element causes a change in the albumen at the base of the sprout, and a peculiar substance is formed, called diastase. This diastase has the power, at ordinary temperatures, of changing starch into dextrin and sugar. The little stem begins to grow, and as it gets beyond the covering of the seed, it begins to use the sugar for its growth. At this stage of germination the growth is checked by heating the grain in dry air. The grain at this stage is called "malt." The malt is pulverized and mixed with water, in which the sugar is dissolved. Hops are added to this solution—the "wort"—to clarify it and make it keep. After boiling, this is allowed to ferment, and the product is beer, containing from 2 to 5 per cent. of alcohol. Ale and porter are made in much the same way as beer, but are fermented more rapidly. The malt used in making porter is browned, giving the liquor a darker color. They contain from 5 to 9 per cent. of alcohol. For brandy, wine is distilled, and the distillate stored in casks which give it a variety of colors and flavors. It contains on an average about 50 per cent. of alcohol. Whisky is distilled from grain ferments. Fusel-oil and other products are contained in it. This contains from 50 to 60 per cent. of alcohol. Rum contains as high as 77 per cent. In the use of these drinks it is evident that considerable alcohol is consumed. Vast quantities of the beverages are drunk every day in every nation; and in them, giving them the effects for which they are drunk, is alcohol, with its weight of influence on human woe. What the effects of this substance are, when thus used, will appear further on. [The next article in the series is entitled "Consumption of Alcohol."]