79. Strong drink as medicine.—People sometimes keep whisky or brandy in the house to give for colds or other slight forms of sickness. A drink of hot coffee does more good than the strong drink, and has none of its dangers.
By using whisky or brandy for medicine, children learn to believe in strong drink, and so they will be likely to use it when they grow up. This reason alone ought to keep any one from giving it to a child.
80. Alcohol in cooking.—In making bread, alcohol is formed in the dough by the yeast. When the bread is baked, all the alcohol is driven off by the heat, and so we do not eat any.
Sometimes brandy or wine is put into desserts. If it is put in after the dessert is cooked, we shall get as much alcohol as if we had drunk it. If the liquor is put in before cooking, the heat will drive off the alcohol but the flavor of the liquor will remain. The flavor will do no harm in itself, but people will learn its taste, and from it may learn to like the strong drink itself. The alcohol in bread has no special flavor and does not leave any taste behind. So we cannot learn to like strong drink by eating bread.
WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED
1. Fruit juice makes wine or cider.
2. All kinds of wine contain alcohol.
3. When the liquid from boiled grain has fermented, it becomes beer, or ale.
4. By boiling wine or beer, and cooling the vapor, distilled drinks like whisky are made. They are one half alcohol.
5. Water will satisfy a real thirst. Strong drink will not.