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 BEELZEBUB BEER 469 whole apiaries, and to the production of nu- merous and superior hybrids, sometimes by de- sign and again by the proximity of Italian and native swarms, though apiarians consider puri- ty in swarms desirable. " BEELZEBUB, or Beelzebnl, a heathen deity, to whom the Jews in the times of the apostles ascribed the sovereignty over evil spirits. It is supposed to be identical with the Baalzebub, fly god, of the Ekronites (see BAAL), the final b being in later times changed to I in pronounc- ing the word. Others find in the last element the Hebrew word zebul, " habitation," and con- sider Beelzebul to mean " lord of the house ; " others refer it to the Heb. zebel, "dung," and render the name "dung god." Hug ingenious- ly suggests that the form under which the Philistine deity was worshipped was that of the scarabaiua pillvlariiu, the dunghill beetle, in which case Baal-zebub or Beelzebul would be equally appropriate. The name appears nowhere in the rabbinical writers. BEEJISTER, the largest of the polders or tracts of drained land of the Netherlands, about 12 m. N. of Amsterdam; area, 8,000 acres. The district contains a neat village of about 2,600 inhabitants, chiefly employed in raising sheep and cattle. BEER (Ger. Bier), a fermented liquor made from malted grain, in Europe most commonly from barley, but in this country from wheat as well, and in India from rice. Corn, oats, peas, and similar articles of food may also be used for its manufacture. Hops and other bitter substances are added to improve the flavor, and to impart their peculiar properties to the liquor. The name beer is also given in this country and in Britain to several partially fermented extracts of the roots and other parts of plants, as spruce, sassafras, ginger, &c., most of which are designated by the term root beer ; but as generally used in Eu- rope, it is applicable only to liquors prepared by malting, and seasoned with hops or other bitters. The drink in some of its varieties ap- pears to be of great antiquity, and was proba- bly discovered by the Egyptians. Tacitus no- tices it as being in common use with the Ger- mans of his time. Pliny describes the celia and ceria, the beer of the Spaniards, and the cerevisia of the Gauls, made from almost every species of grain, and evidently named from Ceres, the goddess of corn. Aristotle speaks of its intoxicating qualities, and Theophrastus very properly calls it the wine of barley. Herodotus (450 years B. 0.) stated that the Egyptians made their wine of barley. An an- cient description by Isidorus and Orosius of the process in use by the Britons and Celtic nations defines the liquor as not ditt'ering essentially from that now made. "The grain is steeped in water and made to germinate, by which its spirits are excited and set at liberty ; it is then dried and ground, after which it is in- fused in a certain quantity of water, which, be- ing fermented, be'-onies a pleasant, warming, strengthening, and intoxicating liquor." Beet is a nourishing drink from the gum, sugar, and starch it holds in solution ; and the bitter substances combined with it impart their tonic properties. The proportion of alco- hol is small. In the Edinburgh ale it has been found by Mr. Brande to amount to 6'20 per cent. ; in brown stout, to 6 - 80 ; Burton ale, 8-88; London porter, 4'20 ; small beer, 1-28. Burton, or the pale India ale, as found by Hott- mann, contains, in 100 parts : water, 78'37 ; ex- tract of malt, 14-97; absolute alcohol, 6'62 ; and carbonic acid, 0'04. Pale ale consists of the same ingredients, in the following propor- tions : water, 89'74 ; extract of malt, 4'62 ; alcohol, 5-57 ; carbonic acid, 0'07. Lactic acid, aromatic matters, and various salts are detected in the extract. Although the term beer is generally applied, as above stated, to all kinds of fermented liquors made from malt, a distinction is made between the heavier and lighter kinds. The more spirituous liquor, made in England and in this country, is com- monly called ale, the name given to it before the use of hops (Anglo-Saxon, eala). Upon the introduction of hops into England the word beer {Bier) was also imported, and was used to distinguish the liquor made with hops from the more ancient beverage. A distinction is made by the German brewers between ale and beer on account of the two diiferent modes of fermen- tation which are employed ; ale being produc- ed by rapid fermentation, in which the yeast rises to the surface (Obergahrung), while beer is fermented in cool cellars by a slow process in which the yeast settles to the bottom of the vessels (Untergahrung). The latter is the Ba- varian method, which is employed in brewing Lagerbier, Schenkbier, &c. The term lager- bier is indiscriminately applied in this country to the light kinds of beer which are prepared by the slow process of fermentation. Much of this beverage, however, is not genuine lager- bier, for it has not lain a sufficient length of time in the cellar to acquire that title ; nor could it have been preserved in casks during the time in which lagerbier is ripening. It is more technically termed, and is knowfl by the brewers as Schenlcbier (schenken, to pour, to retail drinks), i. e., draught beer, or beer ready to be drawn. It contains less alcohol than genuine lager, and less than the various kinds of beer which are brewed in Bavaria, and corresponds to what is known in this coun- try as " present use ale," or the new ale com- monly kept in the ale houses. It occupies much less time in fermenting, and has not the keeping properties of German lager, or of the various kinds of Bavarian beer. To Germany we owe not only the general introduction of beer, but also most of the improvements which have been made in its manufacture. There are many kinds of beer brewed in Bavaria, and also in other parts of Germany, which receive particular names, as Bock, Heiliger Vater, Augustine double, and Salvator, of Mu-