THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY. 223 



duration or intensity, or both, thus giving as a net or mean result a 

 loss of vitality. 



Dr. Smith's experiments only measured a partial result (the car- 

 bonic acid exhaled from the lungs without that from the skin) of the 

 first stage, the period of exaltation. His experiments were extended 

 to 50 minutes, 71 minutes, 65 minutes, and in one case to 1 hour and 

 50 minutes. It is worthy of note that in Experiment 1 were 100 

 grains of black tea, which were given to two persons, and the time 

 of the experiment was 50 and 71 minutes ; the average increase was 

 71 and G8 cubic inches per minute, while in No. 6, with the same 

 dose and the carbonic acid collected during 1 hour and 50 minutes, 

 the average increase per minute was only 47*5 cubic inches. These 

 indicate the decline of the exaltation, and the curves on his diagrams 

 show the same. His coffee results were similar. 



We all know that the " refreshing " action often extends over a 

 considerable period. My own experiments on myself show that this 

 is three or four hours, while that of beer or wine is less than one hour 

 (moderate doses in each case). 



I have tested this by walking measured distances after taking the 

 stimulant and comparing with my walking powers when taking no 

 other beverage than cold water. The duration of the tea stimulation 

 has been also measured (painfully so) by the duration of sleepless- 

 ness when female seduction has led me to drink tea late in the evening. 

 The duration of coffee about one third less than tea. 



Lehmann's experiments, extending over weeks (days instead of 

 minutes), measured the whole effect of the alkaloid and oil of the 

 coffee, during both the periods of exaltation and depression, and 

 therefore supplied a mean or total result which accords with ordinary 

 every-day experience. It is well known that the pot of tea of the 

 poor needle-woman subdues the natural craving for food ; the habitual 

 smoker claims the same merit for his j^ipe, and the chewer for his 

 quid. "Wonderful stories are told of the long abstinence of the drink- 

 ers of mate, chewers of betel-nut, Siberian fungus, coca-leaf, and pep- 

 per-wort, and the smokers and eaters of hasheesh, etc. Not only is 

 the sense of hunger allayed, but less food is demanded for sustaining 

 life. 



It is a curious fact that similar effects should be produced and 

 similar advantages claimed for the use of a drug which is totally dif- 

 ferent in its other chemical properties and relations. " "White arsenic," 

 or arsenious acid, is the oxide of a metal, and far as the poles asunder 

 from the alkaloids, alcohols, and aromatic resins, in chemical classifi- 

 cation. But it does check the waste of the tissues, and is eaten by 

 the Styrians and others with physiological effects curiously resem- 

 bling those of its chemical antipodeans above named. Foremost 

 among these physiological effects is that of " making the food appear ' 

 to go further." 



