Is Coffee Nutritious ? 



hand, the authority of a writer in Household Words 

 (1851) for affirming that there is much nutriment 

 in Caffeine, which is the oily principle we see 

 floating on the surface of the pure beverage. The 

 explanation of this conflict of opinion no doubt 

 is, that although coffee may not perhaps be 

 absolutely and technically nutritious, it possesses 

 a function almost equally efficacious and valuable, 

 namely, that of restraining the metamorphosis 

 or waste of tissue in the human body. Coffee 

 has frequently been found the best form of sti- 

 mulant for administration to persons rescued from 

 starvation by hunger or cold, and this is the more 

 worthy of note that ardent spirits given under the 

 same conditions often prove fatal. Captain Parry, 

 we are told, when on his Arctic Expedition, put his 

 starboard watch, which was on the exposed side 

 of the ship, on coffee, and the port watch on rum ; 

 and the result was,- that in course of time, the 

 " coffee watch " were found to possess a vigour 

 of health entirely wanting in the other. 3 Mr. 

 Branson quotes Julius Frsebel in his " Seven Years 

 in Central America," as saying : <f For the men 

 accompanying the great mercantile caravans, coffee 

 is an indispensable necessity. Brandy is taken as 

 a medicine, but coffee is quite a necessary food, 

 and is drunk twice a day. The refreshing effects 

 3 Mr. Branson. 



