560 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. 1, 1900. 
CEYLON TEA IN AMERICA. 
(Communicated, ) 
I am glcid to see some American botanists 
have recently been on a visit to Ceylon, and 
have no doubt they will have seen much 
that was interesting and instructive, parti- 
cularly in the matter of tea, for there can 
e no doubt they sadly stand in need of such 
information. Notwithstanding, the £57,000 
or so Cevlon has spent in trying to teach our 
cousms it must be acknowledged our Yankee 
campaign has not been a success. The tunny 
advertisements, after the style of Mother 
Seigel or Warner, have not been taken seri- 
ously to heart. Indeed, I understand, they 
have done more harm than good, and I hope 
Ceylon with so many real claims upon it, 
will soon see the wisdom of discontinuing 
this costly and worse than useless fad and 
waste. If the intrinsic merits of the article 
are not sufficient to recommend it and push 
it, as they ultimately did in Australia and 
elsewhere, no amount of blatant advertising 
will do it. Of the need of more solid infor- 
mation on the subject, I have been forcibly 
Reminded by perusing a paper in one of their 
scientific journals by a leading eavant, in 
which paiDer he tells us that the Avorlds 
yearly consumption of tea is 3,000,000,000,000 
lb. which means say 2,000 lb. per head for 
every man, woman and child in the wide 
world ! Whereas the editor of the Tropical 
Agriculturist has evidently bean under the 
impression that the world's yield of tea was 
little more than 1,100 millions annually, and 
the consumption from a few ounces to 10 lb. 
per caput. 
Again, I had no conception of the dan- 
gerous nature of the article till I read this : 
— " In a pound of tea there are 221 grains ot 
poison, or enough to kill 45 rabbits." What, 
puzzles me is the recollection that 1 used 
to feed mv rabbits on tea leaves- theme, 
tannin, and all. The rabbits got fat on the 
leaves, mv children got fat on the rabbits, 
and no one was a bit the worse ! Altogether, 
this Yankee "information for the people 
seems so extraordinary and incredible, that 
I cut out the article and send it to you as a 
curiosity, worthy of a place in your Museum, 
or say your " T.A." as a warning to others. 
TKA AND COFFEE AND THEIR EFFECTS UPON THE 
BODY, BY AV. H. RILEY, M.D. 
T«a is one of the great articles of commerce, 
the estimated annual consumption being three 
billion pounds. It is a shrub native to China, but 
is now grown in India and otlier tropical countries. 
The tea-shrub, in a wild state, grows to a height of 
twenty to thirty feet, but is limited in cultivation 
to Ave or six feet, with numerous branches, and 
evergreen leaves, in the axils of which are-to be 
seen the large, white, fragrant flowers. The leaves, 
though evergreen, are picked only at certain sea- 
sons The first tender leaves of early spring are 
tcathered for the finest young hyson. The later 
leaves give so-called inferior qualities of tea. After 
gathering, the leaves arc first roasted in such a 
way as to produce variety in flavor and odor, and 
then treated to give dittcrent colors. For green tea, 
the leaves are roasted immediately after gathering, 
rolled with tlie hands, then re-roasted. For black 
tea the leaves are lirst exposed to the atmosphere 
for 'a few hours, tlien roasted a few minutes, rolled 
in the bands, exposed to the air again for a few 
))ours and finally slowly dried over charcoal fires 
until the black color is well brought out. After 
this preparation, the tea is ready to ship. 
The use of tea as a Vjeverage was introduced into 
China from Corea, about the fourth century after 
Christ. From thence it extended to Japan about 
the nintli century, finding its way into Europe in 
the sixteenth century, where it met with great 
favor, and is to-day the favorite drink in England, 
Eussia, and Holland. 
We liave already noticed that the chemical ana- 
lysis reveals as a principal ingredient in both tea 
and coffee the narcotic alkaloid thein, or caffein. 
By experiments upon animals with this narcotic, 
it is found to be a deadly poison. Taken in a 
concentrated form, death speedily ensues. One 
seventh of a grain is sufficient to kill a frog, and 
five grains will kill a rabbit. In a pound of tea 
there are 221 grains of this poison, or enough to 
kill forty-five rabbits. Seven or eight grains will 
cause most distressing symptoms in a strong man, 
and a slightly larger dose causes highly dangerous 
symptoms. L)r. Smith, a prominent English phj'si- 
cian, in experimenting with the effects of coffee, 
took, with his assistant, an infusion of two ounces 
of coffee ; they both fell to the floor unconscious, 
and i-emained in that condition for several hours. 
We quote the following incident as illustrative [of 
the effect of tea 
"A prominent official in the British army, now- 
doing service in Africa, recently lost his horse in 
a manner that is both singular and instructive. A 
cook left a few pounds of tea in the sack which 
had contained it, which was filled with corn by a 
Kafir groom who knew nothing of the presence of 
the tea Upon serving out the corn to a s-roup of 
horses, of course the last one received the larger 
share of the tea, M'hich was eaten with the corn. 
The result is thus described : — 
" ' The animal plunged and kicked, and ran 
backward, at intervals galloping madly around, 
finally falling into a donga, where it lay dashing 
its head upon the rocks, and was despatched by 
an assegai thrust through the heart. The post- 
mortem appearances indicated extreme cerebral 
congestion.' " 
Tlie action of tea and coffee as ordinarily used 
is not as rapid and marked in its injurious 
effects as seen in the above instance, as the quan- 
tity used is not so great, and the system also 
becomes accustomed to the narcotic ; but serious 
derangements of the digestive and nervous sys- 
tem result therefrom. 
" The relief obtained from tea and coffee is sud- 
den, before tlie stomach has time to digest them. 
This shows that wliat the users of these stimul- 
ants call strength is only received by exciting 
the nerves of the stomach which convey the ir- 
ritation to the brain ; and this in turn is aroused 
to impart increased action to the heart and short- 
lived energy to the entire system. This is but 
false strength, that we are the worse off for having. 
They do not give a particle of natural strength." 
Though there is greater ease in making exertion, 
a greater sense of exhaustion follows than when 
the drink is not taken. "Under the influence of 
these poisons the nervous system is excited, and 
in some cases, for the time being, the intellect 
seems to be invigqrated and the imagination 
more vivid. Because the stimulants produce 
for the time being, such agreeable results, many 
conclude that they are actually beneficial, and so 
continue their use. But there is always a reac- 
tion. The nervous system, having been unduly 
excited, borrows power for present uses fi-omits 
future resources of strength. All this temporary 
invigoration of the system is followed by depres- 
sion."' The head-ache removed by a cup of tea 
invariably returns, and the continued use of tea 
serves only to aggravate and increase the diffi- 
culty, of whicli it is frequently the source. Those 
to whom tea and coft'ee take the place of other 
food are generally found with hollow cheeks and 
