196 / 374
m
DRINKS.
probably
sufficient
to
satisfy
the
general
reader.
But
we
must
add
to
it
a
second
explanation
of
beer,
which
Is
applied
to
a
fermented
extract,
not
from
any
farinaceous
grain,
but
from
the
roots
and
other
parts
of
various
plants,
as
ginger,
spruce-sap,
beet,
molasses,
and
many
more.
The
scientific
inquirer
may
learn
the
mysteries
of
malting
and
brewing,
which
are
very
nearly
distinct
trades,
in
the
many
treatises
on
beer-
making
which
have
adorned
the
literature
of
this
and
other
countries.
In
these
he
may
read
as
much
as
he
wills
of
the
steeping
of
the
barley,
its
extension,
its
absorption
of
water,
and
the
time
occupied
in this
process
;
of
the
couching
and
sweating,
as
it
is
called,
a
result
of
the
partial
germination
of
the
grain
;
of
the
flooring,
or
spreading
out
like
hay
over
a
field
;
of
the
kiln-drying,
or
the
introduction
of
the
half-
germinated
grain
into
a
kiln
with a
perforated
floor,
with
the
necessary
and
variable
amount
of
heat
beneath
it.
And
if
all
this
is
not
enough,
he
may
continue
to
read
at
full
length
of
comings
or
cuTn-
mings,
of
pale
and
amber-coloured
malt,
of
grinding
the
malt,
of
washing
the
malt
thus
ground,
of
boiling
the
worts
with
hops,
of
cooling
the
worts,
of
fermenting
the
worts,
and,
finally,
of
clearing
and
storing.
Beer
is
probably
a
word
of
German,
as
ale,
signify-
ing
the
same
thing,
is
of
Scandinavian,
origin.
But
the
source
of
the
German
word
is
a
moot
question
of
comparative
philologyo
Those
interested
in
this
mat-
ter
may
find
abundant
information
in
a
note
inserted
by
M.
A.
Schleicher
in
the
Ztitschrift
of
Kuhn.
We
are
led
thereby
to
a
Gothic
form,
plus,
which
in
its