162 FOODS 



it contains more than twice as much both of caffeine (or theine) and of 

 tannic acid as coffee does. Indian teas contain more theine and twice 

 as much tannin as do Chinese teas. Ceylon tea is intermediate in its 

 strength. Green tea contains more volatile oils than black tea and 

 more tannic acid, but somewhat less of the alkaloid. In the United 

 States the use of tea is proportionally decreasing, while that of coffee is 

 increasing. In the British Empire, on the contrary, the reverse tendency 

 obtains so that the one nation becomes ever more completely a coffee- 

 drinking nation, and the other a race of tea-drinkers to even a greater 

 degree than at present. In brewing tea it is important that it be used very 

 soon after its infusion, for while the alkaloid dissolves into the hot water 

 almost immediately, the harmful tannic acid dissolves much more slowly. 

 For dyspeptic reasons, therefore, the habit, so common in some tea- 

 drinking neighborhoods, of keeping the tea-pot on the nob all dav is 

 very pernicious, and the women who indulge in this hardly fail sooner 

 or later to develop nervousness of a characteristic sort and a chronic 

 a -iritis and a leanness consequent on the constant interference with the 

 action of their digestive enzymes which the excessive tannin exerts. 



It is probable that for most persons tea is more harmful than coffee, 

 while, furthermore, it somewhat lacks that genuine support of the nervous 

 system, almost amounting to neural nutrition, so frequently observed 

 in the case of coffee. Tea stimulates the brain and spinal cord, but 

 oftentimes so to say in a more purposeless way. The effect is wake- 

 fulness and mental excitement, but not so much of a stimulation of the 

 useful aspects of the mind. Another disadvantage of tea over coffee 

 is the greater danger of its harmful adulteration and unhygienic manu- 

 facture, as well as the greater cost of a satisfactory quality of the substance. 



The statements made above concerning the relations of coffee to milk 

 and sugar apply equally well to tea if anything, more emphatically, 

 for tea contains much more tannin than does coffee. 



Cocoa is a beverage made by mixing with hot water or milk the powdered 

 seeds of the chocolate tree, Theobroma cacao (the former part of the name 

 meaning "food for the gods"). Chocolate is of a similar nature, but 

 usually contains more of the fat of the bean, cocoa butter. The chief 

 alkaloid of cocoa, theobromine (C 7 H 8 N 4 O 2 ), is nearly the same sub- 

 stance chemically as caffeine or theine. It is present in cocoa, however, 

 in much smaller amount than it is in coffee or in tea. Unlike these latter 

 stimulating substances, dry cocoa contains about half its weight, 40 to 

 54 per cent., of fat, about 20 per cent, of nitrogenous matters, in part 

 (8 per cent.) proteid, and considerable starch; the alkaloids are present 

 in proportion of from 1 to 2 per cent. Thus, cocoa is not only stimulating, 

 but very nourishing, especially when the sugar and large proportion 

 of milk usually employed, are added. A good-sized cup of cocoa so 

 prepared is worth nearly 400 (large) calories. 



Cocoa, by its alkaloid theobromine and its small amount of caffeine, 

 affects the neuromuscular mechanism much as does coffee, but in a very 

 much less degree. On the muscles, however, qocoa acts very powerfully 



