Allsopp's pale or bitter ale : remarks upon the alleged use of strychnine in the manufacture of pale ale / by Baron Liebig (in a letter to Henry Allsopp, Esq., Burton-on-Trent.).

  • Liebig, Justus, Freiherr von, 1803-1873.
Date:
1852]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Allsopp's pale or bitter ale : remarks upon the alleged use of strychnine in the manufacture of pale ale / by Baron Liebig (in a letter to Henry Allsopp, Esq., Burton-on-Trent.). Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ALLSOPP’S PALE OR BITTER ALE. REMARKS UPON THE ALLEGED USE OF STRYCHNINE IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PALE ALE. BY BARON LIEBIG. (in a letter to henry allsopp, esq., burton-on-trent.) - » rpHE unguarded remark of a French chemist, that the strychnine imported into England is employed in part as a substitute for hops in the manufacture of beer, has lately spread alarm among the lovers of pale ale. Having been appealed to by you, to express my opinion on this subject, which appears to me to be, in a dietetic point of view, one of considerable public interest, 1 now offer the following brief statement. About a quarter of a century ago, a brewer in Westphalia fell into the practice of adulterating his beer with mix vomica, from which it is well known that strychnine is obtained. The peculiar morbid symptoms, however, which resulted from the consumption of this adulterated beer, speedily led to the detection of the fraud. The effects produced by nux vomica and strychnine are so characteristic, that every medical man will readily detect their origin. The French novelist, Alexandre Dumas, has described them, though with more imagination than truth, in his romance of Monte Christo/'' It is possible that the Westphalian case, which from being made the subject of a criminal trial obtained great notoriety, has given rise to the assumption that in England the strychnine imported is used for the purpose of mixing with beer. But nobody, at all acquainted with the great breweries of that country, could seriously entertain the suspicion of an adulteration of beer with strychnine or any other