y, which is what I now refer to as the highest outcome of the
strength of barley, is, like hodge-podge, of Scotch incubation, and
deserves, for country's sake and the fame it has, some brief regard. The
process by which the grain is prepared may be described as follows. The
grain is first damped, then spread out on a floor, and finally a certain
quantity of water and heat applied, when it begins to germinate, which
it continues to do to a certain stage, beyond which it is not allowed to
pass. At this moment a Government official presents himself, and exacts
a duty of the manufacturer for the production of the malt, the
authorities shrewdly judging that they are entitled to levy off so
valuable an article a modicum of tax. The grain thus prepared is now in
a state for further manufacture, and it passes into the hands of the
brewer or distiller, to be converted into a more or less alcoholic
drink.

First the brewer produces therefrom those excellent beverages called
beer and porter, and so contributes to our refreshment, enjoyment, and
strength. These beverages are, in one shape or other, nearly in
universal demand, and the money spent upon the consumption of Bass and
XX almost passes belief. They are exported into every zone of the
world, and consumed by every class. And then the distiller takes the
grain in the same form, and, by slow evaporation and subsequent
condensation, extracts the pure, subtle, and potent spirit we have
referred to, and which, in more or less diluted form, we call whisky, or
Scotch drink. And this article also, in spite of cautions, is in large
demand and extensively exported, though perhaps not so much is consumed
among us as was fifty years ago. It is not by any means so bad an
article as it has a bad name; for when of good quality, and moderately
indulged in, it is perfectly wholesome; only when the quality is bad, or
the indulgence excessive, do evil results follow. And indeed such are
its merits when good, that it is said dealers sometimes export it to
France and other parts, from which it is imported again to this country,
transfused into splendidly labelled brandy bottles, and sold
untransformed as best brandy!

Little do we think, when eating our quiet dinner at a Scottish country
inn, what power and wealth are represented in the hodge-podge which
belike forms one of the dishes, and which, by suggestion and in the
style of the housewife, we are now analysing. As we disintegrate the
mess