406 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [November 18,1871 
exposed to the atmosphere. Nothing like fermentation 
ever takes place, as this would issue in the destruction 
of the leaf, which is carefully kept from becoming heated 
or mouldy during the process of making up the whole 
“chop.” A kind of maturation occurs, issuing in the 
formation of more extractible matter, capable of solution 
and circulation. The final “firing” has something of 
the same effect upon the tea-leaf as the kiln-drying has 
upon the germinating barley passing into malt—it fixes 
the composition of the tea-leaf, and renders any further 
change as unlikely as undesirable. The tea-leaf is then 
at its best, and any idea of ripening upon the voyage is 
simply absurd. It follows from the low temperature at 
which the tea is dried that no empyreumatic products 
can be met with in properly prepared tea. And yet 
there is a degree of austerity produced in the ordinary 
black tea which causes it to produce nausea, sickness and 
diarrhoea when taken in the shape of a strong infusion 
prepared from the new spring tea just ready for the 
voyage to Europe. This is especially the case with 
badly-secured leaf, which may be assumed to have been 
purposely exposed to a high temperature in order to fit 
it for the foreign market. All or most of these effects 
pass off by the time that the tea reaches the foreign con¬ 
sumer. The more stable the tea, the better it will turn 
out. Any change on the voyage is for the worse, ac¬ 
cording to the experience of the most competent judges. 
Thirty pounds of the green leaf produce from eight to 
ten pounds of the sun-dried leaf. One hundred pounds 
of the. sun-dried leaf lose eight pounds of weight in 
“firing,” and produce ten pounds of stalks, fifteen 
pounds of tea-dust, and the rest good marketable Congou 
tea. New tea produces in China laxative effects upon 
foreigners, as prepared for exportation. This effect is 
not permanent. As a rule, black tea, under the same 
circumstances, has a decided diuretic effect, even in hot 
weather, when perspiration is abundant. It excites in 
many a strong craving for food, and causes a degree 
of sleeplessness. The narcotic effect of new tea is as¬ 
serted by Johnston in his “Chemistry of Common 
Things,” but has never been noticed. The large propor¬ 
tion of nitrogen in tea, amounting to nearly 6 per cent., 
prepares us to find powerful properties in it. That tea 
is a stimulant there can be no manner of doubt. This 
probably depends upon the presence of the theine, a 
soluble crystalline substance, which resists the moderate 
temperature at which the leaf is dried. The peculiar 
taste of green tea falsely suggests the presence of more' 
than the usual amount of' that astringent principle 
which, in the shape of tannin, is present in about equal 
quantity in both the black and green tea. The proper¬ 
ties of tea as an astringent are turned to account by the 
Chinese, who prescribe it in diarrhoea when acidulated 
with vinegar. Cold tea, to which a small quantity of 
dilute sulphuric acid has been added, is an excellent 
diet-drink for use in hot weather when there is a ten¬ 
dency to diarrhoea. That the use of tea to a large ex¬ 
tent has a peculiar effect upon the nervous systems of 
both animal and organic life there can be no doubt. This 
is the reverse of a sedative influence. Some of the 
craving of the Chinese for opium is connected with their 
incessant drinking of tea, especially upon an empty sto¬ 
mach. The effect of tea is to excite, and this property 
may Tbe turned to excellent effect in cases of opium¬ 
smoking, and in uraemic poisoning. If good new Con¬ 
gou tea be given in the latter disease, there is the addi¬ 
tional advantage of the diuretic effects of the infusion. 
In all cases in which coffee is most to be prescribed, tea 
is much more convenient, accessible and powerful. It is 
obvious that the high temperature at which coffee berries 
are roasted must be fatal to the presence of much caffeine, 
a principle identical with theine. This latter substance 
has been recently proposed by Mr. Lewis Thompson 
{Medical Times and Gazette for February 10, 1871) to be 
brought into use as a tonic remedy in typhoid diseases, 
neuralgic affections and in senile gangrene. Large 
quantities of weak tea, however, tend to the occurrence 
of sciatica and other forms of neuralgia. The experi¬ 
ments of Peligot seem to prove that, as might be assumed 
from the presence of so large a proportion of nitrogen, 
tea is, as the Frenchman said of the coffee, both “ meat 
and drink.” Old women who boil their tea-leaves are 
right, for they thereby extract much more of the theine. 
The antidotal power of tea, so strongly insisted upon by 
the Chinese, is worth a trial, especially in cases of poi¬ 
soning by tartar emetic or corrosive sublimate. A state¬ 
ment appeared in an English paper, some few years ago, 
to the effect that tea is an aphrodisiac, and that its ex¬ 
tensive use partly explains the fertility of the Chinese 
population. It is remarkable that, as the Chinese have 
made the subject of aphrodisiacs a very profound study, 
no reference is made to this effect in Chinese medical 
works. As Liebig has suggested that theine goes to 
make taurine, a biliary substance, it is possible that the 
spermatic secretion may be increased by a course of 
strong tea. Of the effect of tea upon the menstrual 
secretion the Chinese have no doubt. It may be that in 
this way the female population of Great Britain have 
actually hit upon a perfect cure for their “ irregularities,” 
as they are called in quack advertisements. 
The use of tea in certain forms of dyspepsia is a com¬ 
mon Chinese practice. If taken as a plain drink between 
meals, it seems to give tone to the stomach. It is ob¬ 
vious that the “tea” of our domestic tables, a compound 
of milk, sugar and much water, is not the article in¬ 
tended to be spoken of in these pages. The sooner infusum 
thece is placed in the British Pharmacopoeia as a recog¬ 
nized article of the materia medica, the moro likely are 
we to place its employment upon a scientific basis, and 
thus to rescue a very important drug from the contempt 
of familiarity. A tincture of tea is not a desirable pre¬ 
paration, as theine is only sparingly soluble in cold alco¬ 
hol. An extract of tea, carefully prepared, would be an 
excellent preparation for trying the effects of tea in the 
delirium of fever and the stupor of intoxication. 
The Chinese are under the impression that foreigners 
are compelled by some instinctive necessity to send and 
buy the tea of the land of “ the Glory of Summer.” Of 
the influence of tea upon the sobriety of our countrymen 
and countrywomen there can be no doubt. When our 
poor people cease to waste their tea-leaves, and begin to 
eat them as a dish, like the people of Mongolia and 
Siberia, another important step will have been taken in 
the direction of completely utilizing the properties of this 
most important article of diet and medicine. 
Brick tea might economically be introduced into use 
on board our ships of war, as it is cheap, portable, good, 
and much less perishable than ordinary tea. 
THE PRINCIPLES OF GAS ILLUMINATION. * 
{Concluded from page 386.) 
With regard to the effect of heating the gas, it was 
stated that when the U-tube was immersed in boiling 
water (temp. 212°, the normal temperature being taken 
to be 64^° F.), the illuminating power of the gas-flame 
rose from 100 to 104 ; and when melted paraffin was 
substituted for the water, and the temperature of the 
gas thus increased to 288°, the illuminating power rose 
to 118,—showing an increase of 18 per cent, in the illu¬ 
minating power of the gas, in consequence of the rise of 
temperature. 
Such results appeared to the referees inexplicable on 
any grounds yet known. From experiments made in 
connection with various plans of sulphur purification, it 
is known that when gas is raised to a high temperature 
a loss of illuminating power is incurred, chiefly from a 
deposit of the light-giving carbon elements of the gas. 
* Abstracted from the Report of the Gas Referees. 
