4l8 PRACTICAL HYGIENE 



tea or coffee. Brain workers and indoor dwellers generally 

 should use these substances very sparingly, and people 

 having a tendency to indigestion, nervousness, constipation, 

 rheumatism, or diseases of the heart, kidneys, or liver fre- 

 quently find it best to omit them altogether. 



Caffeine and "Soft" Drinks. Recently the practice 

 has sprung up of using caffeine as a constituent of certain 

 drinks supplied at the soda-water fountains. Such drinks 

 usually purport to be made from the kola nut, which con- 

 tains caffeine, or to consist of extracts from the plants 

 which yield cocoa and chocolate, when in reality they con- 

 sist of artificial mixtures to which caffeine has been added. 

 Those using these beverages are stimulated as they would 

 be by tea or coffee and soon acquire the habit which makes 

 them regular customers. Chief harm comes to the chil- 

 dren who frequent the soda fountains and to those who, 

 on account of constitutional tendencies, should avoid caf- 

 feine in all of its forms. It is generally understood that 

 the so-called " soft " drinks are harmless. If this reputa- 

 tion is to be maintained, those containing caffeine must 

 be excluded. 



Danger from Certain Medicinal Agents. Among the 

 most valuable drugs used by the physician in the treat- 

 ment of disease are several, such as morphine, chloral, and 

 cocaine, which possess the habit-forming characteristic. 

 Sad indeed are the cases in which some pernicious drug 

 habit has been formed through the reckless administra- 

 tion of such medicines. Even the taking of such a drug 

 as quinine as a "tonic" tends to develop a dependence 

 upon stimulation which is equivalent to a habit. In the 

 same list come also the drugs that are taken to relieve 

 a frequently recurring indisposition, such as headache. 

 The so-called headache powders are most harmful in their 



