197 / 374
DAVNKS.
197
tiirn
conducts
us
to
the
Lithuanian
pyvas.
Pyvas
ox
pivas
—
since
etymology
is
a
science
dans
laqueLle
les
consonants
font
pen
de
chose,
et
les
voyelles
rien
de
tout
—
may
be
easily
attached
to
the
secondary
root
piv
found
\\\
the
Sanskrit
pivdmi.
In
Indo-European
tongues,
and
in
accordance
with
the
dictum
of
Voltaire,
p,
b,
v,
are
interchangeable
as
labials.
And
so
we
come
to
the
conclusion
xbi^LX.
pivas,
or
its
descendant
beer,
means
nothing
else
but
drink
;
or,
in
other
words,
that
this
particular
form
of
drink
is
the
drink
/^r
excellence.
And
so
we
mJght
rest
content,
were
at
not
for
the
uneasy
scruples
of
a
certain
M.
Pictet,
who
has
introduced
a
Slavic
origin.
But
of
etymology
this
taste
will
suffice.
Twenty
centuries
before
the
Christian
era,
Osiris,
according
to
some
authors,
invented
beer/
and
accord-
ing
to
others
it
has
been
at
all
times
a
drink
of
the
Hebrews.
We
have,
indeed,
heard
of
Adam's
ale,
but
that
term
has
been
generally
applied
to
a
species
of
drink
which
would
hardly
come
under
our
present
category.
It
is
perhaps
more
probable
that
the
beverage
of
Osiris
and
the
early
Hebrews
was
a
siiiiple
infusion
of
barley
without
more.
Pliny,
how-
ever,
Theophrastus,
and
Tacitus,
speak
of
beer
as
known
from
very
early
timei^
to thf
people
of the
North,
who
were
prevented
by
their
situation
from
the
cultivation
of
wine.^
^
Those
who
wish
to
investigate
the
antiquity
of
beer
may
find
ample
matter
to
supply
their
desire
in
a
work
commonly
attributed
to
Archdeacon
Roileston,
entitled,
"
Otvo?
Kpt^tvo?,
a
dissertation
concerning
the
origin
and
antiquity
of
barley
wine"
Oxford,
1750.
2
Much
has
been
written
on
the
comparative
merits
of
wine
and