New Jerjey, "Raccoon. 283 



who never eat any fruit, and neverthelefs had 

 hardly a tooth left. 



I THEN began to fufpeft the tea, which is 

 drank here in the morning and afternoon, efpe- 

 cially by women, and is fa common at prefent, 

 that there is hardly a farmer's wife, or a poor 

 woman, who does not drink tea in the morning: 

 I was confirmed in this opinion, when I took a 

 journey through fome parts of the country which 

 were ftill inhabited by Indians. For Major 

 General Johnfon told me at that time, that fe- 

 veral of the Indians, who lived clofe to the Eu- 

 ropean fettlements, had learnt to drink tea. And 

 it has been obfef ved, that fuch of the Indian wo- 

 men, as ufed themfelves too much to this liquor, 

 had, in the fame manner as the "European women, 

 loft their teeth prematurely, though they had 

 formerly been quite found. Thofe again, who 

 had not ufed tea, preferved their teeth ftrong and 

 found to a great age. 



I AFTERWARDS found, that the ufe of tea 

 could not entirely caufe this accident. Several 

 young women, who lived in this country, but 

 were born in Europe, complained that they loft 

 moft of their teeth after they came to America : 

 I afked, whether they did not think that it arofe 

 from the frequent ufe of tea, as it was known, 

 that ftrong tea, as it were enters into and cor- 

 rodes the teeth j but they anfwered, that they 

 had loft their teeth before they had began to 

 drink tea ; but, continuing my enquiries, I found 

 at laft a fufficient caufe to account for the lofs of 

 their teeth : each of thefe women owned, that 

 they were accuftomed to eat every thing hot, and 



nothing 



