DOMESTIC ECONOMY, HYGIENE, DIETETICS. 



415 



great. In intermittent fever I have used it 

 with the happiest effect in cutting short the 

 attack, and if properly managed is better in 

 many cases than the sulphate of quinine. In 

 that low state of intermittent, as found on the 

 banks of the Mississippi river and other ma- 

 larial districts, accompanied with enlarged 

 spleen and torpid liver, when judiciously admin- 

 istered it is one of the surest remedies. In 

 these cases it should be given in decoction made 

 with four ounces of well roasted and ground 

 coffee, boiled in a quart (16 ounces) .of water 

 in a covered vessel, down to half a pint (4 

 ounces), and two tablespoonfuls given hot every 

 two hours, commencing six hours before the 

 expected attack, and keeping the patient well 

 covered in bed. 



It has been found that in typhus fever coffee 

 increases the elimination of urea, and so far 

 purifies the blood without increasing the de- 

 structive metamorphosis of tissue, and that it 

 lessens coma and low delirium. 



In yellow fever, from a long experience, I 

 consider coffee as my chief reliance, after other 

 necessary remedies have been administered ; it 

 restrains tissue .change, and thus becomes a 

 conservator of force, in that state in which 

 the nervous system tends to collapse, because 

 the blood has become impure ; it sustains the 

 nervous power until the depuration and re- 

 organization of the blood are accomplished, and 

 has the advantage over other stimulants in in- 

 ducing no injurious secondary effects. 



In spasmodic asthma its utility is well es- 

 tablished, and in whooping cough, stupor, 

 lethargy, etc. 



In the hysterical attacks of some females, 

 for which the physician can form no diagnosis 

 or cause for the peculiar and eccentric symp- 

 toms manifested ; a screaming, crying, staring, 

 kicking patient, with no coherent answer for 

 the medical adviser, at the same time with an 

 evident tendency to act the persecuted saint 

 give her a cup of well made, strong, black 

 coffee, she becomes quiet, revives, smiles be- 

 nignly, as if she had swallowed a panacea that 

 had suddenly delivered her from the clutches 

 of the imps of Satan and wafted her from all 

 the miseries of a condemned and tortured spirit 

 to the elysian fields of houris. 



We have used it as a remedy in croup, 

 diphtheria, nephritis, chronic diarrhoea, etc. 

 In poisoning from opium it is well known as 

 the best remedy, and always on hand. 



Hayne says: "That in a case of violent 

 spasmodic disease, attended with short breath, 

 palpitation of heart, and a pulse so much 

 increased in frequency that it could scarcely 

 be counted, immediate relief was obtained from ! 

 a cup of coffee, after the most powerful anti- { 



spasrnodics had been used in vain for several 

 hours," etc. 



After a hearty meal a cup of coffee will re- 

 lieve that sense of oppression so apt to be ex- 

 perienced, and enable the stomach to perform 

 its offices with comparative facility. 



In fact, coffee carries healing on its wings. 

 It is opposed to malaria, to all noxious vapors ; 

 as a disinfectant it has wonderful powers; 

 as an instantaneous deo'dorizer it has no equal ; 

 for the sick room, the fetid odors arising 

 from cutaneous exhalations are immediately 

 neutralized by simply passing a chafing dish 

 with burning coffee grains through the room. 



It may be urged that an article possessing 

 such powers and capacity for such energetic 

 action must be injurious as an article of diet 

 of habitual employment, and not without del- 

 eterious properties ; but I have never noticed 

 any corresponding nervous derangement after 

 its effects have disappeared, as is seen in nar- 

 cotics and other stimulants. The action im- 

 parted to the nerves is natural and healthy, 

 and I must positively deny that the habitual 

 use of the article is injurious. 



Habitual coffee drinkers generally enjoy 

 good health and live to a good old age. Some 

 of the oldest persons I have ever known have 

 used it from earliest infancy without feeling 

 any depressing reaction, such as is produced 

 by alcoholic stimulants. 



In Porto Rico our fairest part of creation , at 

 the tenderest age, have been induced to forget 

 the delicious draught from the maternal foun- 

 tain by the substitution of a decoction of 

 coffee, which soon becomes the daily beverage. 

 Henry Segur, M. D. 



COFFEE. 



Ccvffee is said to be a native of Arabia, but 

 is has spread from thence throughout the trop- 

 ical portions of the world and parts of the 

 temperate zone ; it will, grow in any climate 

 where the temperature does not fall below 

 fifty-five degrees. The best coffee of com- 

 merce comes from Arabia, and is known as 

 Mocha, the next best is the Java, and after 

 that the Ceylon, Bourbon, and Martinique. 

 The principal supply of the United States, 

 however, is derived from Brazil, which fur- 

 nishes three fourths of the whole import. This 

 is known as the Rio, and is the kind always 

 supplied unless another variety is asked for. 



The only way to secure pure coffee is to buy 

 the raw beans, roast, and grind them at home. 

 When coffee is bought already roasted, the dis- 

 advantage is in its losing its delicate aroma 

 very rapidly ; when it is both roasted and 

 ground, it very generally is adulterated with 

 chicory, pease, or potatoes. Good coffee can- 



