222 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



where there is greater waste than supply. In illustration, the author 

 cited the increase in the loss of weight in the prisoners at Wakefield 

 when tea was added to their food. The action of tea has been hith- 

 erto misunderstood, but the sagacious observation of Liebig as to its 

 analogy with the active principle of the bile was much commended. 

 He (Dr. Smith) recommended its use instead of spirituous liquors by 

 soldiers on march, or otherwise exposed for a lengthened period to 

 great heat ; since, by its powerful influence in increasing respiration 

 and the action of the skin, without increasing pulsation, it was par- 

 ticularly fitted to counteract the influence of heat in its tendency to 

 induce heat-apoplexy, or, as more suitably termed by Mr. Longmore, 

 " heat-asphyxia ; " twenty-five grains of tea in a concentrated cold 

 infusion, taken every hour or half hour during exposure, would suf- 

 fice. For similar reasons, he urgently recommended it as an adjunct 

 in the treatment of suspended animation, as from immersion. It has 

 a rapid and accumulative action, so that the small and repeated 

 doses have much greater effect than larger and more isolated ones. 

 It differs from coffee chiefly by increasing the action of the skin, and 

 thereby tending to cool the body, and therefore the two substances 

 are applicable to different conditions of the system. He thought that 

 both, and particularly tea, ought to be more commonly used as me- 

 dicinal agents. ColFee-leaves he believed to be a valuable febrifuge 

 medicine, and one particularly fitted for cases of nervous excitability. 



The author then contrasted the effects of brandy and gin with tea, 

 and showed that in all respects they were directly opposed ; but cof- 

 fee so far resembled them in action that it lessened the action of the 

 skin, and thereby lessened refrigeration. Rum and beer he regarded 

 as restoratives, and the combination of rum and milk as the best re- 

 storative employed as food; while brandy and gin simply lessen 

 waste. He regarded all alcohols as having their chief influence in 

 sustaining the action of the heart, and recommended that they should 

 be given in small quantities, and repeated every quarter of an hour 

 or half hour in urgent cases, so as to accumulate their action, 

 rather than allow reaction to follow each dose by permitting a 

 long interval between the doses. He mentioned a case in which he 

 gave six bottles of port wine in forty-eight hours, with the effect of 

 sustaining the patient's life, and reducing the pulse from one hundred 

 and fifty to ninety per minute. He believed that alcohol increased 

 the respiratory action indirectly through the nervous system, and 

 that in fine old wines and spirits this action is lessened by the vola- 

 tile elements, which have a conservative tendency. He particularly 

 cited the conservative influence of fine old port wine, and the dis- 

 turbing influence of new and inferior spirits. The primary and sec- 

 ondary action of all alcohols, when taken in an amount to affect the 

 sensorium, was always felt, and the author described the attendant 

 circumstances. 



In conclusion, Dr. Smith stated that dislikes for foods are indica- 

 tive of lessened action, and that other foods of analogous properties 

 should be provided in such cases ; and also that it was probable that 

 at least some kinds of azotized substances are more fitted for the hot 

 season, when the chemical changes are greatly reduced, than has 

 been heretofore believed. Med. Times and Gazette. 



