=67. Why men use strong drink.=--Some men take strong drink to make themselves warm, and some to make themselves cool. Some drink to keep themselves awake, and some to make themselves sleep. Some drink to keep themselves still, and some to make themselves stir around faster. Men use strong drink really because it seems to make them feel strong for a while. It does not make them stronger, but it harms the body and the mind. Its alcohol does the harm. WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED 1. Sugar in fruit or in water turns to alcohol or vinegar, and a gas. 2. The change to alcohol is caused by the cells of the yeast plant. 3. The change to vinegar is caused by another small plant. 4. Boiling fruit juice kills the yeast plants and then the juice will keep without change. 5. Alcohol looks like water. It has a sharp and burning taste. 6. Alcohol takes water from flesh and hardens it. 7. Alcohol burns with a great heat and no smoke. 8. Alcohol is used to dissolve things, and to keep things from spoiling. 9. Alcohol in water forms _strong drink_. CHAPTER VIII KINDS OF STRONG DRINK =68. Wine.=--All strong drink is alcohol and water. There may be other things to give it taste, but alcohol and water are always in it. No strong drink is over one half alcohol. [Illustration: =A glass of wine contains so much alcohol.=] In olden times wine was the only strong drink. Men used to crush out the juice of grapes and let it ferment. This made wine. But very often they used the juice before it fermented. Then it had no alcohol and could do no harm, but was a good food. We read of wine in the Bible. Some of it was fresh fruit juice. In wine, the sugar is changed to alcohol. The rest of the juice stays the same. All wine is made by the yeast plant growing in fruit juice. No yeast is put in, for there is always enough on the outside of the fruit. Wine is about one tenth alcohol. =69. Homemade wine.=--Cider is a kind of wine. It is made from apple juice. It has alcohol a day or two after it is made. All homemade wines have alcohol. Any of them can make a person drunk. Using weak homemade wine and cider often makes an appetite for stronger drinks. The alcohol in any of them is enough to harm the body. [Illustration: =A glass of beer contains so much alcohol.=] =70. Beer.=--After man had made wine for a long time, some one found out how to cultivate yeast. Then men could make sugar and water ferment whenever they wanted to. So men boiled grain to take out its sugar. Then they poured off the liquor and added yeast and let it ferment. This made beer and ale. Now millions of bushels of grain are used every year in making beer. Men call beer a _light_ drink. But it has alcohol and is a strong drink, and can make men drunk.