RECAPITULATION 245 
owing to their high alcoholic concentration, they are 
all of them much more intoxicating than beer. Claret 
is often thought to be only slightly intoxicating, though 
it contains twice as much alcohol as beer. Probably 
this is because, in this country, it is usually drunk at 
meal-times, and therebyits concentration in the stomach 
becomes reduced to a non-intoxicating strength. On 
an empty stomach, however, it is very intoxicating. 
On the other hand, spirits, which are notoriously 
intoxicating, and are known to be specially harmful 
when drunk neat, are no more intoxicating than claret 
when diluted in the customary manner with about 
three times their volume of water. Under the present 
scheme of taxation the tax on claret and other wines 
is absurdly low. For each 1 per cent. of alcohol 
present in a gallon of average beer the tax works out 
at 4:3 pence, and for each 1 per cent. of alcohol present 
in a gallon of spirits it works out at 15-2 pence, or 
three and a half times as much. For each 1 per cent. 
present in claret, however, it works out at only 3-5 
pence, or distinctly less than the beer tax, whilst for 
port and sherry it works out at 4-8 pence, or slightly 
more than the beer tax. Evidently, therefore, the tax 
on wines ought to be raised, whilst that on spirits 
ought to be brought more into conformity with the wine 
tax, provided that nothing is done to assist the con- 
sumption of neat spirits. I suggest that in future 
spirits be issued in two concentrations, taxed at very 
different rates. At present, spirits are usually issued 
at 30° under proof, which corresponds to an alcoholic 
concentration of 40 per cent., and the taxation is at 
the rate of 72s. 6d. per proof gallon. Let spirits be 
issued in addition at 60° under proof, or at an alcoholic