these are the only uses made of the kola-nut by the lower 

 classes; but certain of the higher classes, living in country 

 districts, have been made aware from wha 4 ] has passed in the 

 newspapers of late of the value of kola prepared as a beverage, 

 and have been in the habit of consuming it. 



It was about five years ago that the kola-nut began more 

 particularly to attract attention, and notices of it began to 

 appear in the journals. In the early part of 1882, Messrs. 

 lieckel and Schlagdenhauffen, the latter formerly a Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry at Strasburgh, published a notice of Kola, 

 which appeared in the ( 'omptes ttendua and other journals. 

 'I he Lancet of April 8th, 1882, published a summary of the 

 researches of these French chemists, which remains succinct 

 and comprehensive to the present time. The litera'ure of the 

 subject is so scanty, that it may be permissible to quote entire 

 the short article which appeared in the leading English 

 medical journal. It is as follows: 



"The Kola or Gourou Nut. These seeds, called also 

 Ombeme nuts, are the produce of Stercuiia acuminata, 

 belonging to the Natural Order Sterculiacese, and are known 

 to us by the accounts of West African travellers, who state 

 that when chewed or sucked, they possess the power of ren- 

 dering the flavour of water, even if half-putrid, agreeable, and 

 they were believed to contain caffeine. They have recently 

 been made the subject of analysis by Messrs. Ed. lieckel and 

 Fv. Schlagdenhauffen, who have found that they do actually 

 contain more caffeine than the best samples of coffee that 

 could be procured, and that this base is altogether free and 

 uncombined not, therefore, as in the coffee-berry, united 

 with an organic base; secondly, that they contain a very ap- 

 preciable quantity of theobromine, which assists the action of 

 caffeine and possesses similar properties to that base; thirdly, 

 which is an important fact, that they contain a considerable 

 quantity of glucose, of which cacao presents no trace; fourthly, 

 that the quantity of starch present is three times greater than 

 that contained in theobroma, which explains its nutritive 

 value; fifthly, that there is but little fat, in which respect it 

 differs notably from cacao; and, lastly, th.it they contain a 

 special form of tannin, which approximates caffeo-tannic acid 

 in its composition, and red c dourin^ matter very similar to 

 that named by Payen cacao-red. The physiological exami- 

 nation of this substance has shown that its properties are 

 essentially due to the caffeine and theobromine it contains. 

 The seeds, it appears, have long been in use in Soudan and 

 Western^Africa, for the relief or cure of diseases of the in- 

 testine and liver, and especially in cases of atony of the di- 

 gestive tract, and also as a masticatory and tonic, like the areca 

 nuts, which are held in such high esteem by the natives of 



