Water, as a means of slaking man’s thirst, has been provided for him in abundance from the time of Father Adam, whose “Ale” is so vaunted by abstainers from alcoholic liquors. But Water, unless charged with Carbonic Acid gas, or containing some mineral in solution, is considered by some, as a constant drink, rather vapid; and Man, as he became civilized, has made himself other beverages, more or less tasty, and provocative of excess, and also more or less deleterious to his internal economy. The juice of luscious fruits was expressed, the vine was made to give up its life blood; and, probably through accident, alcoholic fermentation was discovered, and a new zest was given to drinking. A good servant, Alcohol is a bad master; but that it satisfies a widely felt craving, probably induced by civilization, is certain, for most savage tribes, emerging from their primitive and natural state, manufacture drinks from divers vegetable substances, more or less alcoholic. The present volume is intended for that class of the public which is known as “the general reader”; and its object is to interest rather than to inform. Therefore it deals at no great length with what may be termed the _caviare_ of the subject, as, for instance, the varied opinions of the medical faculty with respect to the hygienic value of drinks, their supposed uses in health and disease, and their chemical constituents, or analyses. Nor is the question of price discussed, nor long lists of vineyard proprietors given, nor the names of the brewers, nor the number of casks of beer brewed. In short, as few statistics have been introduced as possible. In deference to a maxim not always remembered in books on beverages, “_De gustibus non est disputandum_,” or its English equivalent, abhorred of Chesterfield, “What is one man’s meat is another man’s poison,” the verdicts of enthusiasts and vendors have been, except in rare instances, alike rejected. Nor has very much been said on the inviting topic of adulteration. It would be almost cruel to disturb the credulity of the good people who drink and pay for gooseberry as Champagne, or _Val de peñas_ as curious old Port. It is a pretty comedy to watch the _soi-disant_ connoisseur drinking a wine fully accredited with crust, out of a bottle ornamented with fungus and cobwebs of proper consistency—a wine flavoured with _essence_ at so much a pound, and stained with _colour_[1] at so much per gallon. There is no need to proclaim upon the housetops the constituents of Hamburg sherry, nor how the best rum is flavoured with “R.E.,” or brandy with “Caramel” or “Cognacine.”