9o 
Tea. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
1    February,  1903. 
that  should  be  used  but  also  how  it  should  be  boiled — "  that  from 
springs  in  the  hills  is  said  to  be  the  best,  and  river  water  next, 
while  well  water  is  the  worst."  His  directions  are  quaint  and 
amusing,  but  perhaps  worthy  of  consideration,  for  a  Chinaman  usually 
knows  something  worth  knowing  about  making  tea.  Then,  too, 
our  own  choice  of  the  kind  of  water  to  be  used  in  the  wash-bowl 
and  laundry  shows  that  the  kind  of  water  used  in  making  tea  may 
be  of  importance. 
VII.  EFFECTS. 
As  to  the  effects  of  tea  upon  the  human  system,  it  seems  that  it  is 
best  for  every  man  to  be  his  own  judge.  Both  professional  and 
popular  opinion  are  liable  to  be  warped — the  former  by  the  knowl- 
edge that  tea  contains  some  principles  which  ought  to  have  bad 
effects,  and  the  latter  by  a  prejudice  springing  from  a  liking  for  the 
beverage  and  from  its  every-day  use.  As  with  the  use  of  many 
other  things,  those  who  use  it  in  moderation  are  best  fitted  to  pass 
opinion,  and  in  the  great  majority  of  cases  that  opinion,  whether  it 
be  from  the  physician  or  the  layman,  will  be  that  the  effects  are 
mostly  temporary  and  usually  beneficial.  Most  of  us  have  experi- 
enced the  refreshing  effects  of  tea  when  a  day  of  unusual  strain  has 
made  demands  which  have  depleted  the  store  of  physical  and  men- 
tal energy.  While  these  effects  are  but  temporary,  they  for  the 
time  bolster  up  the  flagging  spirits,  thus  giving  the  physical  being 
time  to  make  repairs  free  from  the  retarding  influences  of  a  fretful 
mind.  When  the  physical  nature  reports  all  well,  the  mental  nature 
is  not  disposed  to  complain  of  conditions  within  or  without.  This 
should  not  be  considered  as  parallel  to  the  "  Dutch  courage  "  that 
comes  from  the  use  of  alcoholic  liquors,  opium,  morphia,  etc., 
because  the  tea  has  no  evil  after-effects.  Its  use  on  such  occasions 
is  rather  a  means  of  setting  in  order  a  disordered  house. 
The  effects  are  mostly  due  to  the  theine,  the  tannic  compounds 
and  the  warmth  or  coldness  of  the  infusion.  Green  tea  has  a  larger 
percentage  of  tannin,  and  this  probably  accounts  for  its  greater 
effect.  The  theine  has  the  property  of  lessening  the  waste  of  tissue. 
This  has  been  determined  by  observing  the  amount  of  waste  tissue 
in  urine.  It  has  been  thought  that  this  lessening  of  waste  should 
permit  of  the  same  amount  of  exertion  on  a  lessened  diet.  Experi- 
ence seems  to  confirm  the  truth  of  this  in  the  case  of  coffee,  tea 
