G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 283 



woman's milk presents great analogy with that observed in 

 the case of animals. 2. That these effects vary according to 

 constitution, age, hygienic conditions, etc. 3. That insuffi- 

 cient food always gives rise, within varying proportions, to a 

 diminution in the amount of butter, caseine, sugar, and salts, 

 while it generally augments that of albumen. 4. That in 

 three fourths of the cases observed the proportion of the al- 

 bumen is in inverse ratio to that of the caseine, under an in- 

 sufficient diet. 5. That the modifications in the composition 

 of the milk due to a reparative diet always manifest them- 

 selves in a striking manner by the end of four or live days. 

 20 A, November 25, 1871,657. 



PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION OF COFFEE, TEA, ETC. 



An elaborate article is published by Dr. Marvaud, in the 

 Memoirs of the Academy of Bordeaux, upon the physiological 

 and therapeutical effects of certain substances which excite 

 to labor or to slumber, some of which are known as the pro- 

 moters of vital combustion. Anions: these the author enu- 

 merates alcohol, coffee, tea, coca, mate, guarana, and other 

 substances, each of which is specially used in some particular 

 region of the globe. After discussing the entire subject in 

 all its bearings, he sums up the whole in the following con- 

 clusions in regard to the substances mentioned, all of which 

 he thinks possess incontestable physiological and therapeu- 

 tical properties. 



1. Their physiological properties consist, first, in a general 

 excitation of the cerebrospinal system, and consequently of 

 the vital functions of relation ; second, in a relaxing of disas- 

 similation, and in a depressing of the organic heat. 



2. As stimulants of the nervous system, or as force-pro- 

 ducers, and as preventives of waste of tissues, alcohol acts 

 directly upon the sensitive apparatus of the medulla, and in- 

 directly upon the motor apparatus. Coca acts directly upon 

 the motor apparatus, which it excites in the manner of the 

 strychnines. Coffee, tea, and mate act principally upon the 

 brain. Alcohol and coca are to be considered as muscular 

 beverages in distinction from coffee, tea, and mate, which are 

 intellectual beverages, the former exciting the muscles to la- 

 bor, the latter the intellect. In addition to this, they act as 

 economical elements by lessening the wear of the tissues, 



