Pure Bavarian beer, taken in moderation, would be an excellent thing,
for its stimulating and nutritive properties are a good counterpoise
to the exhausting effects of the harsh climate; but, alas! this
renowned specialty of Munich is losing its ancient fame: the beer is
no longer under governmental inspection, and bitter is the general
complaint against the brewers on account of its alleged adulteration
through the use of foreign drugs and poisonous indigenous plants, to
say nothing of its dilution by the retailers with Munich water, itself
a poison sufficiently strong. For the rest, the amount of pork and
sausages consumed is enormous: the favorite vegetable is the
indigestible sauerkraut, and the bread in general use is uniformly
bad. Nor can tobacco be considered as otherwise than an article of
diet, since the men and boys are hardly ever seen without a pipe or
cigar in their mouths, while the women and girls spend the greater
part of their lives in an atmosphere blue and heavy with tobacco
smoke.
Having now given many reasons why the citizens of Munich ought to be
sick, it is time to see to what degree effects correspond to causes in
the sanitary condition of the city. Munich is known all over the world
as a nest for typhus fever; nor will it soon be forgotten that within
a year it has suffered from two distinct outbreaks of cholera, besides
being the only city in Europe where that epidemic continued to rage
during the winter.
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