There is a class of soft drinks known as root beers, which are composed with water as a base and with materials which are subjected to more or less fermentation, producing alcohol. The root beers are probably so called by reason of the fact that they are flavored with certain vegetable, medicinal substances, some of which may be derived from roots. The "beer" part of the name relates, of course, to the fact that they have undergone incipient fermentation.

The quantity of alcohol which is produced in these beers is not very large and yet I think it inadvisable to recommend even these small quantities for children. A root beer, because it contains a trace of alcohol, is hardly suitable for classification under the general heading of "soft drinks," inasmuch as this term is applied only to beverages which contain no alcohol.