BEVERAGE PLANTS 287 



even the pure coffee becomes unfit for drinking if 

 boiled a long time. Boiling brings out an increas- 

 ing quantity of the caffeine, which is injurious to 

 the nervous system. 



MATE, OR PARAGUAY TEA 



Tea-drinking of an entirely new kind the tra- 

 veller meets in the lower half of South America. 

 At first the bitter taste, and the unfamiliar aro- 

 matic taste, of the universal beverage of the people 

 are not at all to his liking. But if he sets his mind 

 to it, a liking for the "yerba de mate" grows on 

 him. He takes it with pleasure after hours of 

 exercise, and finds his drooping spirits revived, 

 his tired feeling gone. 



The plant whose leaves are used in making this 

 beverage is a holly that grows as the principal 

 species in vast forests in Paraguay and neighbor- 

 ing countries. A few plantations of the tree have 

 been set, anticipating a possible exhaustion of the 

 native supply. The branches are gathered and 

 dried over fires. Then the leaves are beaten off 

 and broken or ground into a coarse powder. The 

 highest market grade of the dried herb comes 

 from the youngest leaves. The cheapest grade has 

 twigs and leaf stems in it. 



