BEVERAGES. 



volatile oil will be dissipated, with corresponding 

 loss of aroma, and, at the same time, astringent 

 and bitter principles will be dissolved in too large 

 quantity from the leaf. Tea is usually measured 

 into the pot by the spoonful Though no doubt 

 convenient, this method is a very inaccurate one ; 

 for Dr Edward Smith has shewn that the weight 

 of a spoonful varies greatly according to the kind 

 of tea used an average spoonful of flowery pekoe, 

 for instance, weighing 62 grains, and one of congou 

 87 grains. Taken at the same time as a heavy 

 meal of food, or such a meal as contains a large 

 proportion of the day's alimentary supply, tea may 

 prove to be too much of a diluent, and in some 

 cases may rather retard the primary digestion, by 

 precipitating the pepsine of the gastric juice. This, 

 however, depends very much on the quantity and 

 the strength of the infusion made use of. Green 

 tea, although said to be used almost exclusively 

 in some countries, is found to be unsuitable for 

 exclusive use in this country. It often produces 

 injurious effects, which may, to some extent, be 

 ascribed to the deleterious colouring-matters with 

 which it is frequently adulterated. Apart from 

 this cause, however, green as well as black tea 

 injures the health when taken in excessive quan- 

 tity ; dyspepsia, nervous irritability, and sleepless- 

 ness being among the more prominent symptoms 

 induced. 



The Coffee of commerce is the seed of a berry- 

 bearing tree or shrub, Caffea Arabica, found orig- 

 inally in Abyssinia, but now extensively cultivated 

 in Persia, Arabia, and other tropical countries. It 

 is usually distinguished by the place of its growth 

 as Mocha, Jamaica, Mountain- Jamaica, Deme- 

 rara, Ceylon. Raw coffee can be kept for any 

 length of time without deterioration indeed, the 

 older the better ; but on being roasted, it develops 

 a fragrant and aromatic principle, which is ex- 

 tremely volatile. Roasted coffee should therefore 

 be ground and used as speedily as possible. Coffee 

 yields to analysis caffeic acid, tannic acid, caffein, 

 wax, resin, fat, gum, albumen, lignin, extractive 

 matter, and salts of lime, magnesia, and iron. By 

 roasting, the quantity of water and caffein is 

 lessened in the coffee-beans, and at the same time 

 a new substance of an oily nature is produced, 

 which is sometimes called caffeon. The action of 

 coffee closely resembles that of tea. It has the 

 power of retarding waste of tissue, of inciting and 

 invigorating the mental functions, and of pro- 

 ducing wakefulness. The first of these is mainly, 

 if not solely, due to the caffein ; the others are 

 due to the caffeon, and possibly also in part to 

 the caffein. Caffein, as has already been stated, 

 seems identical in composition to thein. Caffeon 

 is an empyreumatic substance resembling the em- 

 pyreumatic oil of tea, and to it also may be referred 

 the grateful aroma of this beverage. Independ- 

 ently of any differences in the relative propor- 

 tions of these two important ingredients, coffee is 

 more nutritious than tea; for when infusions of 

 ordinary strength of the two are compared, it is 

 found that a moderate-sized cup (5 oz.) of coffee 

 contains about 44 grains of solids, while one of 

 tea contains only 6-6 grains the greater part of 

 these solids being nutritious. The addition of 

 milk to coffee adds much to its nutritiousness, 

 diminishes in some degree its local effects on the 

 stomach, and seldom makes its digestion more 

 difficult. As to the addition of chicory \hz root 



of the wild succory, or endive, dried and ground- 

 it is thought by some to improve the flavour and 

 appearance of coffee. At the same time, it does 

 so only when added in small quantity ; and it is 

 quite unjustifiable to leave it to the cupidity of the 

 seller to dilute a substance possessing valuable 

 physiological properties with one that has no very 

 appreciable action. The unrestricted addition of 

 chicory is only too apt to lead to adulteration, 

 quite as unfair to the consumer as that with dan- 

 delion root, roasted wheat, or other substances 

 whose dietetic and market value is greatly inferior 

 to that of coffee. 



Cocoa is derived from the seeds or nuts of the 

 chocolate-tree (Theobroma cocoa), a native of 

 tropical regions. The seeds grow in pods, and 

 are prepared for use by being roasted, deprived of 

 their husks, 'and ground. Cocoa is either used in 

 the form of the ground seeds, simply made into 

 a decoction ; or these are ground into a paste, 

 mixed with cloves, cinnamon, vanilla, &c. form- 

 ing chocolate. It contains theobromin, a principle 

 undistinguishable from caffein, and it exerts the 

 same influence on the system as tea and coffee. 

 As an article of diet, cocoa is more nutritious 

 than these substances, owing to the large propor- 

 tion of fat (52 per cent.) contained in it. Hence, 

 it is for many a somewhat heavy and indigestible 

 beverage. The ground seeds are preferable to 

 the paste or cakes, of whose composition, or, we 

 should rather say, adulteration we are ignorant 



5. The acidulous beverages in common use 

 are lemonade, ginger-beer, soda-water, effervescing 

 saline draughts, Seidlitz powders, and the like. 

 Their action being medicinal and corrective, 

 rather than alimentary, their consideration prop- 

 erly belongs to a subsequent number. When 

 prepared from the acid juices of fruits as lemon, 

 raspberry, apple, &c. they form cooling, refreshing 

 antiscorbutic drinks, and are well adapted for hot 

 seasons and for febrile and inflammatory cases. 

 When compounded of some alkali and acid, like 

 the common effervescing draughts, they arc also 

 slightly aperient. 



6. Beverages which are the products of fer- 

 mentation are usuaUy classed as spirits brandy, 

 gin, whisky, and rum ; wines port, sherry, claret, 

 champagne, &c. ; liqueurs embracing all the 

 sweet or home-made wines ; and malt liquors 

 ale, porter, and beer. 



Alcohol, or the leading principle in spirits, con- 

 sists of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. As it is 

 very inflammable, and produces heat and carbonic 

 acid while burning, Liebig was led to maintain 

 that it has an important alimentary function in 

 elevating the temperature of the body. Recent 

 experiments have rendered this view extremely 

 doubtful, by shewing, among other results, that 

 after alcohol is swallowed, a large proportion of 

 it is eliminated from the body unchanged. It 

 does not seem necessary, however, to discuss the 

 relative probability of either of these views, 

 because, although such a discussion is of great 

 physiological importance, it docs not possess an 

 equally important bearing on the use of alcohol 

 as a beverage. At the present time, the opinion, 

 founded on numerous careful observations, appears 

 to be generally accepted that alcohol, like tea, 

 coffee, &c. has a decided influence in diminishing 

 waste of tissue. It also is universally held to 

 be a powerful mental stimulant, and, in certain 



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