The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-11-17
THE UOESOF ALCOHOL
The Beverages Made by the Var
iouS Nations.
THE TRICKS OF ADULTERATION.
The Maize Beer of South America-Cava
Beer of the South Sea Islands-The
Koumis of the Tartars
For THE SUNDAY HERALD

low, or red, or of intermediate tintS among
whom Intoxicating indulgences are not of
common occurrence. And many and strange
are the methods adopted to prepare the
Undertaking beverages. In all preparations
of the sort, ethyl alcohol-the commOnest
and most familiar member of the great
alcohol trib-is the basis. The name
"alcohol" is itself of interest. There has
been great diversity of opinion, and heated
conflicts of ideas among students of Ian
guage, as to the ancestry of the term. After
wlnnowing away the chaff of pathological
contention, the grains of probability seem
&c be these.
1t is said that long, long ago, before the
arts of deception and trickery became
extinct in the world, the women of Arabia
practised the habit of darkening the eye
brows and adjoining their features gener-
ally by the use OF fine black powder,
whereby they succeeded in entangling
mauy a thoughtless Arab in their meshes
of their borrowed fascinations. When the
males of the land realized the deception of
which they were being made the dupes,
they called the cosmetic al kohl or the
subtle thing. From this our AuglsiZed
form, alcohol, has sprung. 1t was long
after this time that the name was first
applied to the product of the distiller's art;
yet none can doubt the propriety of its use
in this connection. The narcotics in which
mankind are apt to indulge, are varied In
their nature and effects; and the chemical
bases by which their strange effects are
wrou IN, are numerous, but all the stimu-
liant beverages used for the purpose of
creating the intoxicated state, depend for
their subtle power upon the presence Of
alcohol
The proportions of the chemically pure
spirit-the poison itself-vary greatly in
different preparations. Small beer and
lager contain from Z to 3per cent alcohol,
cider, or per cent; California wine
7per cent; claret, per cent; hook, IA per
cent; Port wine, Is to q per cent; whisky,
46 per cent; brandy, 80 per cent, and rum,
SIS per cent.
In South Au erica, chicG or maize beer
has loag been known Indeed the origin OF
its use is lost in the uncertain miStS Of the
remote past The way by which it is pre-
pared is interesting, the usual mode Of
procedure being described as follows: In
dian corn is moistened, left in warm place
till sprOuted and then dried. This malt is
crushed mixed with water, and set aside
to ferment; after fermentation. the stuff is
stirred up, and drunk as a thick Cruel 1t is
only among the inhabitants of the Sierra
valleys that the strongest and indeed the
most highly priced chica can be procured.
The process of it's manufacture, as given
by an iey1 with IS, is essentially this.
On brewing occasions, all members If the
family gather around 4 large vessel in
which is placed a considerable quantity of
maize malt. Each one fills his mouth with
the prepared corn and chewS till the stuff
is reduced to d ass pulp; this he spits
into the dish again, and forthwith resumes
the asst eating operation on another
mouthful, and so on TIL sufficient pulp has
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the uninviting mass, and fermentation is
soon setup. For light chica, short time
only is required to complete the process,
but for the more exhilarating drinks, the
Jars containing the inSalivated mess are
buried in the ground and there left til.
their contents acquire the strength of
venerable age. ''Chica thus prepared is
called chicG mIScddd or chewed chica," says
an observer land is considered far
superior to that prepared from maize
crushed in the usual manner. The SerraEo
believes he cannot offer his guest greater
luxury than draught of old chica mascada,
the ingredients of which have been ground
between his own teeth"
The ara or caUa beer of the South Sea
Islands, and indeed Of the islands of the
Pacific generally, is prepared much in the
same way. The natives of the Sandwich
Islands, the Fills and the Tongas are alike
addicted to the use of the ava beverage
Intoxicating long pepper, which is taken
from the earth and dried, and then chewed
TO pulp; this is mashed III water and left
TO ferment. One traveller who has watched
the preparation of ava, seriously informs
US that the only ones who are allowed to
chew tie root, are young persons who
have good teeth, clean mouths, and have no
colds" Captain Wilkes courageOusly made
a personal test as to the merits of chica
beer, and he states that the stuff tasted to
him liked a concoction of magnesia and
rhubarb.
There is an interesting chemical explana-
ton underlying this disgusting process of
beer making. Fermentation consists
primarily in the partial decomposition of
sugar, whereby alcohol is formed. Now
starch and a closely allied substance called
uy the che enlist uidStdse exists IN cOnsiderabl5
quantity in the matted maze and the long
pepper root used in the making of chica and
ava; and these materials in the fermentipg
process, becomes transformed first into
sugar, then into alcohol The saliva of the
mouth exists strong chemical influence
in the changing from starch and diastase
to sugar and this is its value in the fer
menting operations already described.
Among the Tartars, an intoxicating
liquor is prepared by fermenting milk; this
is known as kOtmis. Mares milk is pre-
ferred for the manufacture owing Ia ts
doubtless nourishing, containing as l uUC9
all the butter and cheese of the milk
Sake is Japanese drink prepared from
fermenteG rice. 1t is generally drunk warm,
and contains from per cent alcohol when
new 10 10 per cent when of age.
The beers generally are produced by the
same general process True indeed, no
civilized malster or brewer relies upon the
products of his own salivary glands to in
duce the fermenting changes. Yeast is
generally employed as the ferment, and
very speedy is its action in decomposing
sugar and forming alcohol. In all fer
mented liquors the proportion of alcohol
is comparatively low. Even the wines
which are prepared by the fermentation of
fruit Juices rich in sugar, seldom contain
more than Is or 10 per cent alcohol. In
deed. the presence of more than ~ per cent.
is a tolerably sure proof that the liquors
have been fortified, for that amount Of
alcohol is effectual in suspenGlug tue
development of the yeast plants, and con-
sequently in stopping farther fermentation.
By the process OF disJillation, however,
the volatile alcohol is easily separated
from the fiery water, so that half an ounce
Of the distillate may contain all the spnit
from a gallon of ferInented mash. 1t is Tie
distilled product that possesses such ardent
strength.
Alcohol is almost universally familiar,
and no less wide is the sphere of the
troubles ind ced by its use.
Legislators have tired almost every con-
ceivable plan for regulating the manufac-
ture and sale of spirituous liquors The
use of alcohol in the industrial arts is al
most indispens able. Yet the laws that
have been devised in order that the use
of alcoholic beverages might be In some
degree controlled, iniuriOusly affect this
legitimate use of the at3rial. Alcohol can
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