256 MEDICINAL EFFECTS. 



infused, but as we use a greater weight of coffee th^^n 

 we do of tea in preparing the beverage, a cup of 

 coffee of ordinary strength will contain as much theine 

 as a cup of ordinary strong tea. While, however, coffee 

 checks waste and is naturally a food, the same cannot be 

 said of tea, the specific effect of which is to quicken 

 respiration and the vital functions generally. 



Coffee belongs to the medicinal or auxiliary class of 

 food substances, being solely valuable for its stimulating 

 and exhilarating effect upon the nervous and vascular 

 system. It produces a feeling of buoyancy and exhila- 

 ration comparable to a certain stage of alcoholic intoxica- 

 tion, but which does not end in the depression and collapse 

 produced by the latter. It increases the frequency of the 

 pulse, lightens the sensattons of fatigue and sustains the 

 strength under prolonged and severe muscular exertion. 

 It also contains valuable medicinal properties, among 

 which is that of being an anti-soporific, and hence most 

 useful in narcotic poisoning. It has also been found to 

 be the best stimulant for administration to persons res- 

 cued from starvation or perishing from intense cold, as 

 ardent spirits when given under these conditions often 

 prove fatal. It dispels languor, stupor and lethargy and 

 as an antidote is a specific in cases of poisoning by 

 opium and morphine. 



The early history of coffee informs us of its use among 

 the Arabians for its exhilarating as well as its curative 

 powers, being used in Mecca and Medina originally for the 

 purpose of overcoming torpor and drowsiness by the 

 Mohamedan monks, its exciting and sleep-dispelling 



