Malt liquor appears to have had its origin in the attention paid by an
eastern sovereign to the comfort and health of his soldiers; as we are
informed by the historian Xenophon, that "the virtuous Cyrus" having
observed the good effects that water in which parched barley had been
steeped, produced, exhorted and commanded his troops to drink this
liquor; the historian entitled it "_Maza_." It is highly probable that
Cyrus adopted this drink to counteract the ill effects of impure and
foul water (which had done lasting injury to other warriors of his
time), which is so common in warm, sunny climates; as Pliny informs
us, that if water be impure or corrupted, by putting fried barley into
it, in less than two hours, it will be pure and sweet; that its bad
effects will have evaporated, and that it then may be drunk with
perfect safety; he further adds that, this is the reason why we are in
the habit of "putting barley-meal into the 'wine-strainers' through
which we pass our wines, that they may be refined, purified, and drawn
the sooner." The information conveyed to our readers by Pliny, may be
made of great practical use and benefit by mariners, to whom sweet
water is such a desideratum; and is as important to those who traverse
the arid deserts of Africa, where sweet water is so seldom found.
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