The bee., 1883-08-25
Drinks OF All Nations.

Ancient Egypt had species of wins
and also liquor called zythos, drawn
from bar.ey by fermentation resam-
bling beer. That the people did mot
escape from intoxication is shown bv
drawings which have been preserved
of slaves carrying their masters homo
and the like; but the effects of the two
drinks were noticed to be different
GreeianS used wine from the earliest
period, and history gives many tokens
that they did so to excess. But tho
statement that they were fond of ponr.
ing salt water into it to improve the
flavor raises a gentle suspicion that If
differed from modern wine. The like
inference is suggested by reading that
among the Romans the low-Driced
grades of wine sold at th1eepence for
ten gallons, and that the magnatps
drank it by the gallon. But both the
Grecians and Romans imported wine
from Egypt. Who knows but this
may have been the chief cause Of in.
temperance among them?
Julius Casar'S troops seem to have
carried, perhaps not the original idea
of wine and malt liquor, but timproveI
ways of making them, to Gaul and
Britain; and grape culture and wine
making throye in France because
natural to the soil and climate. while
ale an beer were 50 suited to ENGLISH
cond tiOns, and were so easily made nv
q people raising an abundance of
grain, that they soon became the M.
tional beverages in preference to the
mead and cider with which the ancient
BritOns had been wont to regale them
selves. Barley is the basis Of several
drinks made in different parts of the
world by processes analogous to mod
ern brewing, but they are totally diff
ferent in their Intoxicating effects.
The discoYerers of America found
maize in use among the native tribes
in making a species of Geer called
chiea; and history indicates that the
natives would have suffered less from
intemperance if they had clUng to
their own drink than they have since
adopting the strong liquors introduced
by the whites. There are some unex-
pected sources of these beverages. In
England, spruce, fir. birch, maple and
ash trees have in former years been
tapped and the sap fermentod for a
drink. The willow,pOplar, sycamore and
walnut are said to yield palatable bey-
frages KOumiss, of which descrip-
tions were published during Presid mt
Garfeld's illness. is fermented milk.
ami is the basis of what may be called
the koumiSS cure, administered to- in
diyiduais at establishments maintained
among the Tartars; but doc orS differ
as to whether the treatment wnen tried
by Americans or EngliShmen effects
radical cure or only causes a temporary
fatness. The drink is a fdyorite one
among the Tartars and Circa 5S.ans.
and they have a legeRd that the angel
who suceored Hagar in the desert
showed Ler how to make it, and the
recipe has been handed down from that
time. The Chinese make liquors, and
mischievOus ones-to indulge them
freely in their native drinks would not
be a hopeful experimentation rice,
from palm and even from mutton.
Sake is Il beer which has been lOngan
widely used in Japan. and, though
strong, is called wholesome; ard the
Japanese make other drinks from
plums, from the juice of the plum or
birch, and from the flowers of the
motherwOrt and the peach. The Rus
slams delight in a quass made from bar
ley and rye flour. Several varieties of
grass, herbs or flowers, roots of sundry
plants, the juices of the sugarcane. th"
aloe or the cavassa. and even of the
potato and beet are used among vari-
GUS tribes or nations as the basis of
some favorite drink.