The philosophy of eating. By Albert J. Bellows, M.D.

70

ALCOHOL.

They are all alike sweet and soluble in water; but
the cane and milk sugars differ from the grape in that
they do not ferment till they have first been converted
into grape sugar.
Sugar is found in almost all plants at certain periods
of their growth and development.
The Process of Malting. - Sugar is formed in the
germination of seeds, as is well illustrated in the
process called mnalting, which consists in placing the
grain, generally barley, in a condition to favor its
germination.
When in the process of growth the starch is converted into sugar, that process is arrested and the sugar
is secured for the purpose of fermentation.
Alcohol.
All kinds of grain may be thus converted into malt,
and used for making wine, beer, and distilled spirits;
indeed, all grasses, and fruits, and vegetables, which
contain sugar or starch, - and to just the extent of the
sugar or starch, - can be converted into alcohol; but
the process is one of decomposition, and therefore,
according to principles already described, sugar and
starch are then brought into a condition to be poisonous. The same elements and the same chemical combinations which in sugar are nourishing food, are in
alcohol poisonous; and while the beers, and wines, and
distilled spirits may afford nourishment on account of
the sugar and starch, and other nutritive elements in