The term "soft drinks" is applied in the United States to common beverages which contain no alcohol. From the point of view of composition, there is no rule which can be formulated by means of which their composition is controlled, unless it should be by specific legal regulation such as is made by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

The typical soft drink of the United States is known as soda water. This phrase is, to some extent, a misbranding, since it is so called because originally the gas with which it is charged was derived from carbonate or bicarbonate of soda. The name has become so firmly attached to waters of this kind that it probably will be accepted in the future as distinctive. In this country it is mixed, before drinking, with a syrup, which in addition to the sugar it contains, has a flavoring material to give it character. The syrup is made of pure sugar, or at least should be and the flavoring material is a vegetable juice or extract of some kind, such as vanilla, orange, coffee, raspberry, strawberry, chocolate, pineapple, lemon, banana, cherry. The above are all natural flavors and wholly unobjectionable from an ethical point of view.

Other drinks of this kind are legion. Some of them are of a composition to which the term soft drink is probably not applicable because this appellation should be reserved solely for beverages which contain no added injurious ingredient. The moment a substance is placed in a soft drink which is open to objection on account of its injury to health, the article ought to lose the right to be known by that appellation.

The industry of soft drinks has grown to an enormous extent in the United States, and much can be said in its favor and very little against it. [There is an undoubted tendency in man to drink other things beside water and milk and if this tendency and desire can be controlled and directed into the consumption of harmless beverages containing no habit-forming drug, it may aid greatly in the cause of temperance and in the restriction of the alcoholic habit.

I think the great majority of the parents of this country would prefer to see their children patronizing the soda fountain rather than the saloon, and if a choice must be made between the two, the soda fountain must certainly be preferred.

A soft beverage or a soft drink may be regarded as an institution particularly American, because the industry in soft drinks is much more extensive in this country, in proportion to its population, than it is in any other country of the world.

A concoction which is pleasant to the taste from any cause, provided it be not due to an injurious substance or one which may threaten health, and which at the same time is refreshing and satisfying and made from wholesome articles in a sanitary manner, cannot be open to any serious objection. The common occurrence of sugar in the soft drink is a matter of regret in respect of its use by children.

There is another matter which ought to be mentioned in this connection and that is the danger which may come from the drinking of ice-cold liquids in extremely hot weather, such as prevails in most parts of the United States during the summer months. The sudden chilling of the alimentary canal, or at least the upper portion of it, by the ice-cold liquid on a hot day cannot be looked upon as wholly innocuous. The danger is especially great if at the same time of the consumption of the cold beverage the body is exceptionally warm from exercise as well as from the temperature of the ambient atmosphere. | One of the great attractions of the soft drink counter in summer is the coldness of its products, and they usually are swallowed at a temperature not much above the freezing point of water. This consumption would be robbed of most of its objectionable character if the beverage could be slowly sipped instead of being swallowed almost instantly, as is often the case. The dangers to the mucous membrane from constant chilling in cases of this kind are not inconsiderable and must not be neglected.