ON STIMULANTS. 



45 



coffee acts first on the heart, and quickens the 

 circulation and respiration, and that in the sec- 

 ond place it increases the tension of the blood- 

 vessels — an effect, it will be noticed, precisely the 

 opposite of that of alcohol, which diminishes the 

 tension of the vessels. It irritates the nervous 

 centres, the brain and spinal cord, and also the 

 nerves themselves. " It excites the nerve-cells," 

 says M. Leven, "not only by its stimulating 

 effect on the circulation, but also by a special 

 excitant action due to the caffeine itself." The 

 results of M. Leven's physiological experiments 

 correspond precisely with the symptoms which 

 have been observed to occur in consequence of 

 excessive indulgence in tea or coffee. Coffee con- 

 tains seventeen per cent, of caffeine, and it is 

 reckoned that in the quantity daily consumed by 

 an ordinary Parisian there is enough to poison 

 five Guinea-pigs ! M. Leven quotes the case of a 

 young medical man who suffered from coffee-in- 

 toxication. For six mouths he had taken five or 

 six cups of coffee daily. He experienced violent 

 palpitations, tremblings in the arms, cramps in 

 the legs, a convulsive cough, and permanent con- 

 traction of the pupils. When he discontinued 

 the use of coffee these symptoms disappeared. 



I have, again and again, had occasion to ob- 

 serve the characteristic symptoms which the abuse 

 of tea and coffee produces. The most common 

 are distressing persistent palpitations, an irritable, 

 excited state of the nervous system, a sense of 

 dread of impending calamity, throbbings in the 

 head and sometimes an approach to giddiness, 

 inability to sleep, obstinate dyspepsia — only to be 

 relieved by abstaining from its cause. I believe 

 it is the experience of most hospital physicians 

 that a very large proportion of the cases of dys- 

 pepsia which crowd the out-patient rooms of the 

 London hospitals are induced by the constant 

 large consumption of tea by the poor. The dis- 

 turbing effect of abuse of tea on the action of the 

 heart was not likely to escape the notice of so 

 acute an observer as Dr. Stokes, of Dublin ; and 

 in his work on diseases of the heart he calls at- 

 tention to the following, among other cases : A 

 gentleman of great intellectual attainments had 

 been in the habit of passing a great part of the 

 night in literary and scientific labors ; during the 

 evening and through the night he was in the habit 

 of drinking largely of tea, without any thought 

 of its doing him harm. At length he became 

 subject to paroxysms of quick and vehement ac- 

 tion of the heart, accompanied by intense dis- 

 tress and oppression, with a painful sense of im- 

 pending death. He became greatly depressed in 



spirits, and believed he should die in one of these 

 dreadful paroxysms. On examination after the 

 paroxysm had passed off, his heart was fouud to 

 be perfectly sound. But a very curious affection 

 of the nervous system became permanent. He 

 found the greatest difficulty in walking on level 

 ground ; he had an irresistible feeling that he 

 should slip and fall ; and on one occasion, wish- 

 ing to visit a friend who lived near him, after 

 many ineffectual attempts to walk on the level, he 

 actually proceeded to his friend's house on all- 

 fours. 



I have already alluded to an antagonism which 

 I believe to exist between the effects of tea and 

 coffee on the one hand, and those of alcohol on 

 the other. They both excite the heart to in- 

 creased action, but the excitement produced by 

 alcohol rapidly passes away and leaves a state of 

 calm or (if the dose has been large) depression, 

 and hence its tendency to promote sleep ; tea and 

 coffee also excite the heart, but the excitement 

 produced by these beverages docs, in many cases, 

 leave behind it a state of irritability instead of 

 calm, and hence their tendency to prevent sleep. 

 Alcohol relaxes the blood-vessels, and so dimin- 

 ishes vascular tensions ; coffee and tea increase 

 vascular tension. Alcohol, in its secondary effect, 

 soothes the nervous system ; tea and coffee irri- 

 tate the nervous system. It is a well-known fact 

 that a cup of strong tea or coffee dispels the ef- 

 fects of slight excess in wine ; it is, perhaps, not 

 so well known that a few teaspoonfuls of brandy 

 or a glass or two of sherry will remove the ner- 

 vous irritability produced by tea or coffee. I 

 fear much of the " sly drinking " on the part of 

 women is induced by states of nervous irritabili- 

 ty originally excited by over-indulgence in tea. 

 The practical issue of all this is, that excessive 

 indulgence in any stimulant, whether alcoholic or 

 non-alcoholic, is most hurtful. Of the grateful, 

 refreshing, and invigorating properties of tea and 

 coffee taken in moderation, and occasionally 

 rather than habitually, no one can be more sen- 

 sible than I am ; but I am convinced that if a 

 stimulant is needed, as it often is by men of busi- 

 ness under occasional pressure of work, the best 

 results will be obtained by taking the bane and 

 the antidote together — a small quantity of tea or 

 coffee with a small quantity of an alcoholic bev- 

 erage. When what I have termed tea-dyspepsia 

 is produced, the only plan is to leave off drinking 

 that beverage for three or four months, after 

 which its use may often be resumed with im- 

 punity. Chocolate is a very useful substitute for 

 tea or coffee, but it does not possess the property 



