in bitter ale and other forms of beer. A. Schmidt,[84] asserts that glycerine, alum, and sodium bicarbonate are added to beer, and states that beer, poor in extractive and alcoholic constituents, is liable to become sour, a defect which is remedied by the use of alkalies and chalk, the resulting disagreeable taste being disguised by means of glycerine. The same authority deprecates the use of glucose on account of the absence of nutritious albuminoids and phosphates in this substance. It would certainly appear obvious that the direct addition of starch-sugar to the wort, which results in augmenting the alcoholic strength of beer without correspondingly increasing the proportion of valuable extractive matter, is of doubtful propriety. Grains are less open to this objection. Of these, maize is generally regarded as the best substitute for barley malt, both on account of its similarity in composition and its cheapness. The International Congress of Medical Sciences, held at Brussels in 1875, adopted the following resolutions:-- 1. Genuine beer should be made from grain and hops. 2. No other substances should replace these, either wholly or partially. 3. All substitutes should be considered as adulterations, and should come under the penalty of the law, even if not deleterious to health. The German Brewers’ Association, at its Frankfort meeting, defined wholesome beer as the produce of malt, hops, yeast, and water with a partial substitution of the malt by starch meal, rice, maize, and glucose, and regarded the use of some malt substitutes as permissible on scientific and hygienic grounds. It recommended, however, that, in case such substitutes are employed, the beer so prepared should be designated by a distinctive name, such as “rice beer,” “sugar beer,” etc. The darker varieties of beer are sometimes artificially coloured by the addition of caramel, and, although the result reached is virtually the same as that caused by the over-roasting of malt, the practice is prohibited in Germany unless the product is designated as “coloured beer.”[85] According to Guyot, some of the Bavarian beer sold in Paris is coloured with methyl orange.[86] Licorice is employed in beer brewing in Germany, both on account of its sweetening power and for clarifying purposes. In regard to the use of artificial preservatives, such as salicylic acid and sodium bisulphite, it is very probable that articles of food which have been treated with these preparations are not readily digested. Their use, moreover, should be unnecessary, if due care has been exercised in the manufacture of the beer. This is especially applicable to beer intended for home consumption. FOOTNOTES: [69] The total production of all kinds of malt liquors in the United States was, for the fiscal year 1886, 20 millions of barrels; it is assumed that at least three-quarters of this amount consisted of lager beer. [70] In Bavaria the use of all malt and hop substitutes is legally prohibited.