THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY. 369 



specified by Count Rumforcl. The external coat was not removed 

 even after two days' soaking, but the corns were much swollen and 

 softened. I suspect that this difference is due to the condition of the 

 corn which is imported here. It is fully ripened, dried, and hardened, 

 while that used by the Indians was probably fresb gathered, barely 

 ripe, and much softer. 



Ml". Gaubert (No. 1,373, page 185) asks me whether I think that 

 tea taken in moderation (say two cups in the evening) does any mis- 

 chief. If he carefully reads No. 40, he will find the answer already 

 given before his question was asked. He offers to relinquish the habit, 

 in spite of the pang, " on the advice of so eminent an authority " as 

 myself. I hope that he will not be so weak as to accept my authority 

 or any other on a question which can easily be answered by common 

 sense and simple direct experiment. There are cases in which we are 

 compelled to lean on authority, but this is not one of them, and 

 he will see, by reperusing what I have written on the subject, that I 

 have repudiated mere authority, and appealed to facts that are open 

 to all, 



I will reply further to Mr. Gaubert, as in doing so I shall be also 

 replying to a multitude of others, his case being typical. Let any of 

 these repeat the experiment that I have made. After establishing the 

 habit of taking tea at a particular hour, suddenly relinquish it alto- 

 gether. The result will be more or less unpleasant, in some cases seri- 

 ously so. My symptoms were a dull headache and intellectual slug- 

 gishness during the remainder of the day — and if compelled to do any 

 brain-work, such as lecturing or writing, I did it badly. This, as I 

 have already said, is the diseased condition induced by the habit. 

 These symptoms vary with the amount of the customary indulgence 

 and the temperament of the individual. A rough, lumbering, insensi- 

 ble navvy may drink a quart or two of tea, or a few gallons of beer, 

 or several quarterns of gin, with but small results of any kind. I know 

 an omnibus-driver who makes seven double journeys daily, and his 

 " reg'lars " are half a quartern of gin at each terminus — i. e.. If pint 

 daily, exclusive of extras. This would render most men helplessly 

 drunk, but he is never drunk, and drives well and safely. 



Assuming, then, that the experimenter has taken sufficient daily 

 tea to have a sensible effect, he will suffer on leaving it off. Let him 

 persevere in the discontinuance, in spite of brain-languor and dull head- 

 ache. He will find that day by day the languor will diminish, and in 

 the course of time (about a fortnight or three weeks in any case) he 

 will be weaned. He will retain from morning to night the full, free, 

 and steady use of all his faculties ; will get through his day's work 

 without any fluctuation of working ability (provided, of course, no 

 other stimulant is used). Instead of his best faculties being dependent 

 on a drug for their awakening, he will be in the condition of true man- 

 hood — i. e., able to do his best in any direction of effort, simply in 



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