372  Coffee:  Its  History  and  Commerce.  {Am^JustSm' 
As  used  in  those  countries  it  is  believed  to  be  injurious  to  the  nerves 
and  stomach,  but  the  weak  decoction  used  here  is  non-injurious,  but 
rather  beneficial.  It  cheers  and  refreshes  and  gives  zest  to  other 
foods.  The  caffeine  is  mildly  stimulating  and  has  a  restful  effect 
upon  body  and  mind  and  tends  to  restore  them  to  normal  condition 
after  they  have  undergone  exertion.  The  most  important  effect  of 
coffee  is  its  tendency  to  diminish  the  waste  of  tissue  which  is  going 
on  at  every  moment,  and  as  Doctor  Hutchinson  says,  "  it  conse- 
quently permits  the  performance  of  excessive  labor  upon  an  economi- 
cal and  inadequate  diet."  Laborers  are  great  coffee  drinkers,  and 
the  military  departments  of  many  governments  give  coffee  a  place 
in  the  regular  rations  of  army  and  navy. 
Dr.  Kane  says  of  the  use  of  coffee  during  his  Arctic  explora- 
tions: "After  repeated  trials  the  men  took  kindly  to  coffee  in  the 
morning  and  tea  in  the  evening.  The  coffee  seemed  to  continue  its 
influence  throughout  the  day  and  they  seemed  to  grow  hungry  less 
rapidly  than  after  drinking  tea,  while  tea  soothed  them  after  a  day's 
hard  labor  and  the  better  enabled  them  to  sleep.  They  both  oper- 
ated upon  fatigued  men  like  a  charm,  and  their  superiority  over 
alcoholic  liquors  was  very  decided."  Temperance  advocates  would 
gladly  see  coffee  displace  beer,  rum,  whisky,  etc. 
Coffee  contains  less  astringent  principle  than  tea  and  conse- 
quently tends  less  to  retard  the  action  of  the  bowels,  a  tendency 
which  is  still  further  diminished  by  the  aperient  effects  of  the  vola- 
tile oil.  Von  Liebig's  investigations  show  that  coffee  is  valuable  in 
increasing  when  necessary  the  secretion  of  bile.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  bile  is  superabundant  the  use  of  the  beverage  should  be  sus- 
pended. Occasionally  coffee  gives  heartburn  or  other  forms  of 
indigestion,  or  causes  sleeplessness  ;  but  this  is  generally  due  to  an 
unwise  or  untimely  use  of  it. 
With  tobacco,  opium,  alcoholic  liquors  and  some  other  materials 
our  desire  will  not  admit  that  plenty  is  enough.  Take  a  little,  the 
system  hints  for  more;  take  more,  it  asks  for  more,  then  demands 
more,  insists  on  more  and  pleads  for  more  until,  figuratively  speak- 
ing, one  becomes  a  mere  skinful  of  nicotine,  or  a  seesaw  from  dream- 
land to  despair,  or,  like  Duke  Clarence,  is  drowned  in  a  butt  of 
Malmsey.  But  with  coffee,  tea  and  cocoa,  as  with  water,  enough  is 
enough  in  nearly  all  cases,  and  victims  of  these  beverages  are  rare.  I 
have  heard  of  tea-topers  and  coffee-topers,  but  have  never  known  one. 
