9. ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES are made by allowing yeast to ferment the starch
or the sugar in a certain kind of food, thus producing acid and alcohol.
Grains and fruits are used oftenest for this purpose. In some cases, the
fermentation is allowed to continue long enough to use up all the starch
or sugar in the material selected, and in this event the resulting
beverages are sour and contain a great deal of alcohol. In others, the
fermentation is stopped before all the sugar or starch is utilized, and
then the beverage is sweet and contains less alcohol. The higher the
percentage of alcohol a beverage contains, the more intoxicating it is
and the more quickly will a state of intoxication be reached by
drinking it.
10. HARMFUL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.--In years past, alcoholic
beverages were considered to be a necessity for medicinal purposes in
hospitals and in homes, but this use of them has been very greatly
decreased. In fact, it is believed by most authorities that often more
harm than good is done by using alcoholic beverages as a medical
stimulant or as a carrier for some drug. As these drinks are harmful in
this respect, so are they detrimental to health when they are taken
merely as beverages. It is definitely known that alcohol acts as a food
when it enters the body, for it is burned just as a carbohydrate would
be and thus produces heat. That this action takes place very rapidly can
be detected by the warmth that is produced almost immediately when the
drink is taken. Some of it is lost through the breath and the kidneys
without producing heat, and it also acts upon the blood vessels near the
skin in such a way as to lose very quickly the heat that is produced. It
is never conserved and used gradually as the heat from food is used. The
taking of alcohol requires much work on the part of the kidneys, and
this eventually injures them. It also hardens the liver and produces a
disease known as hob-nailed, or gin, liver. In addition, if used
continuously, this improper means of nourishing the body produces an
excessive amount of fat. Because of these harmful effects on the various
organs, its too rapid loss from the body, and the fact that it does not
build tissue, alcohol is at best a very poor food and should be avoided
on all occasions.
11. KINDS OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES.--In spite of the truth that beverages
containing alcohol are found to be harmful, many of them are in common
use. Following are the names of these, together with a short account of
their preparation:
BEER is an alcoholic beverage made from certain grains, usually barley,
by malting the grain, boiling the product with hops, and finally
fermenting it with yeast. The malting of grains, it will be remembered,
is explained in _Cereals_. The hops are used to give the beer a
desirable flavor. This beverage is characterized by a low percentage of
alcohol, containing only 2 to 5 per cent., and consequently is not very
intoxicating.
WINE is a beverage that is usually made from grapes, although berries
and other small fruits are occasionally used. It contains from 7 to 16
per cent. of alcohol and is therefore more intoxicating than beer. The
wines in which all of the sugar is fermented are known as _sour_, or
_dry, wines_, while those in which not all of the sugar has been
fermented are called _sweet wines_. Many classes of wines are made and
put on the market, but those most commonly used are claret, sherry,
hock, port, and Madeira.
BRANDY is an alcoholic liquor distilled from wine. It is very
intoxicating, for it consists of little besides alcohol and water, the
percentage of alcohol varying from 40 to 50 per cent. Upon being
distilled, brandy is colorless, but it is then stored in charred wooden
casks, from which it takes its characteristic color.
GIN is a practically colorless liquor distilled from various grains and
flavored with oil of juniper or some other flavoring substance, such as
anise, orange peel, or fennel. It contains from 30 to 40 per cent. of
alcohol. It is usually stored in glass bottles, which do not impart a
color to it.
RUM is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting cane sugar, molasses,
cane juice, or the scum and waste from sugar refineries and then
distilling the product. It contains from 45 to 50 per cent. of alcohol,
and has a disagreeable odor when it is distilled. This odor, however, is
removed by storing the rum in wooden receptacles for a long period
of time.
CORDIALS are beverages made by steeping fruits or herbs in brandy.
_Absinthe_, which is barred from the United States because it contains
wormwood, a very injurious substance, is a well-known cordial. Besides
being extremely intoxicating, it overstimulates the heart and the
stomach if taken in even comparatively small quantities.
WHISKY is an alcoholic beverage obtained by distilling fermented grain
several times until it has a strength of 40 to 50 per cent. of alcohol.
Then it is flavored and stored in charred casks to ripen and become
mellow, after which it has a characteristic color. As can readily be
understood, distilled liquors contain the highest percentage of alcohol.
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