W£E^ ":t_T-3 •.'h^.v-'- -■^ilw&MBLtk '.CS'^' "Sli^fiBBI fe?i-:#=g TEA AND COFFEE. / BY WM. A. ALCOTT, i-1» Author of the Young Husband, Young Wife, Young Mother, Young Man's Guide, &c. x^jW* BOSTON: GEORGE W. LIGHT, 1 CORNHILL. NEW YORK :—126 Fulton Street. 1839. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the j-car 1859, by VVm. A. Alcott, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. WBD /) isst /?3? CONTENTS. PART I.—TEA. CHAPTER 1.—General Remarks. Exhilarating properties of Tea. Popular ignorance concerning it. Object of this work. ... 9 CHAPTER II.—Histoky of Tea. Introduction of tea into Europe. Small proportion of the population who have ever drank tea. Con- sumption of tea in different countries of Europe. Consumption of tea in the United States. In- crease of this consumption. Estimates in regard to the future............H" CHAPTER III—Tea a Medicine. Preliminary remarks. Tea shown to be a medicinal substance. The proofs. 1. Analogy. Opium, 2. Experiment. Experiments by Drs. Lettsom, Smith and Beddoes. Observations of Mr. Cole of Great Britain. Abstract of ten cases or ex- 4 CONTENTS. periments. Testimony of Drs. Hooper, Cullen, Bell, Combe, Sweetser and Beaumont, and Mr. Graham. Experiments by Dr. Burdell. The London Quarterly Review.......16—49 CHAPTER IV.—Tea a Poison. Definition of our term, poison. Examples for illustration. Testimony on the subject. Ex- periments on small animals. Mode of mixing poison with tea at Canton, in China. . . . 50—56 CHAPTER V.—Manner of Using Tea. Two great evils in using tea according to the exist- ing fashion. Too much fluid retards digestion— prevents the proper mastication of our food—and injures the teeth. The stomach injured by hot drinks. Proofs on this subjpct from the experi- ments of Dr. Beaumont. Reflections. Extracts from a recent work on the Teeth. Illustrations. Letter to the editor, with accompanying illus- trations..............57—79 CHAPTER VI.—Reply to Arguments in Defence of Tea. Reply to the argument that tea is invigorating. Necessity of some sort of stimulus. Nature of the strength derived from extra stimuli. Tea supposed to do us good—at any rate, to do us no harm. False experience. One's meat another's CONTENTS. 5 poison, considered. Waste of using tea. Said to be the business of nobody but ourselves. Why there are aged tea drinkers. Small quantities of poison in tea. Power of habit considered. Is there poison in every thing ? Tea a social thing. Tea shortens life but a little. Other arguments in defence of tea..........80—124 PART II.—COFFEE. CHAPTER I.—Introduction of Coffee into Gen- eral Use. Arabian encomium on Coffee. Its origin in Africa. Opposition to it. Gradual progress into Asia. Its introduction into Europe. Opposition it met with there. Present consumption in Europe and elsewhere. Rapid increase of its consump- tion..............125—132 CHAPTER II.—Properties of Coffee. Testimonies in regard to the narcotic properties of coffee. Dr. Hooper. Dr. Paris. Dr. Willich. Prof. Hitchcock. Dr. Trotter. Dr. Dunglison. Journal of Health. Dr. Bell. Dr. Combe. Dr. Sweetser. Londe. Sinibaldi. Tissot. Linnasus. Percival. Musgrave. Mellingen. Grindal. Encyclopaedia. Cole. Burdell. Slavery to this species of dosing.........133—142 6 CONTENTS. CHAPTER III.—Effects of Coffee on the Hu- man System. Doctrine of sympathy. Extract from Hooper's Medical Dictionary. Effects of coffee on the liver. Its effects on the other organs, especially the brain and nervous system.....143—149 CHAPTER IV.—Objections Considered. Drinks as a condiment. Drinks as a refreshment. Popular errors on this subject exposed. Con- cluding remarks..........150—1C2 PART III. STATISTICS OF TEA AND COFFEE. General remarks on the object and authentic char- acter of these statements and tables. I. Statistics of Tea. Amount imported. Properties of the two kinds, black and green. II. Statistics of Coffee. Amount imported. General considera- tions. Closing appeal to the reader. . . 163—174 PREFACE. This little volume has a twofold object. Its first and principal intention is to exhibit, in a .candid and dispassionate manner, the nature, properties, and ten- dency on the human system, of two common beverages which, though always more or less questionable in their charac- ter, have, nevertheless, within a century or two past, obtained a strong hold upon the popular favor, and become incorpo- rated, as it were, among the necessaries of human life. A second object has been to show the true intention of nature, in regard to drinks in general. In pursuance of our object, we have endeavored to lay aside all theories, and 8 PREFACE. to rely solely on science, observation and experiment. Whatever may be the merits or demerits of our performance, or what- ever may be its reception, it contains nothing visionary. It may not be perfect, but we believe it to be correct; and that by the test of all fair criticism, it will be found so. Additional facts, were it necessary, might be given ; but as it is exceedingly important not to increase, too much, the size of a volume designed for the serious consideration of every family in the land, and especially for those who, though in indigent circumstances, are yet subjecting themselves to the consequences of a tre- mendous waste, in the use of worse than useless beverages, we have concluded to omit them. TEA AND COFFEE. PART I.—TEA. CHAPTER I. GENERAL REMARKS. Exhilarating properties of Tea. Popular ignorance concerning it. Object of this work. That every sort of tea sold in our mar- ket, if good for any thing, is, in a greater or less degree, exciting or exhilarating, is well understood. No one would long con- tinue to use an article—even with 'the addition of a quantity, larger or smaller, of good cream, milk or sugar—which had no other effect on the system than that of pure water, viz., to quench the thirst. Of the extent and nature of the excite- ment of this stimulus, however, most per- 2 10 TEA AND COFFEE. sons appear to be ignorant. They are probably unaware that it pervades, by its influence, the whole domain of animal life; and so far as it excites or exhilarates us at all, does it by operating on the nervous system, and on the stomach, liver, &c., in nearly the same way with alcoholic and fermented drinks, and opium and tobacco. They hardly realize that they are admitting to their embrace, in the guise of a pleasant and agreeable friend, a most insidious and dangerous enemy; one who is silently, though slowly, undermining and destroying the very citadel of life itself. Such, how- ever, we shall be compelled, by a stern regard to truth, to show in the following chapters. A brief historical notice of the introduction of the tea plant to common use, may be desirable, in the first place. CHAPTER II. HISTORY OF TEA. Introduction of tea into Europe. Small proportion of the population who have ever drank tea. Consump- tion of tea in different countries of Europe. Con- sumption of tea in the United States. Increase of this consumption. Estimates in regard to the future. Tea does not appear to have been known in Europe or America, till about 200 years ago. As Europe has been settled, more or less, at least 3,200 years, it follows that, whatever may have been the case in other quarters of the globe, the inhabitants of that part of the world must have been without tea, prior to its introduction, about 3,000 years. According to the best esti- mate wo can make from the data in our possession, tea cannot have been a common or daily beverage in Europe since its first introduction, for more than 500,000,000 of people, while the far greater number, 12 TEA AND COFFEE. a number at least twenty times as great, or more than 10,000,000,000, have passed through life and gone down to the grave without tasting it. Whether among this immense host there was any want of physi- cal vigor to enable them to till the soil, raise the structures, and fight the battles of their countries, we leave for the present to the decision of those who are familiar with the records of Greece, Rome, Britain, and other mighty or polished nations, who, having had their infancy, their maturity, and their decrepitude, have chiefly disap- peared, except from the page of history. The tea plant, of which there are two varieties—the viridis or green tea, and the bohea or black tea—is a native of China and Japan, and was for a long time con- fined to those countries. Attempts have, however, been recently made to cultivate it in the island of Java, and with the aid of Chinese laborers, in Brazil; and about twelve years ago it was introduced into France. We believe the plant, in both of its varieties, might be successfully cultivated —we fear it will be—in the United States. HISTORY OF TEA. 13 We have already said that tea did not find its way into Europe till about 200 years ago. The East India Company appear to have first imported it, in 1664. Ttvey brought two pounds and two ounces of it, as a present to the British king. From that time to the present its use has been in- creasing—not rapidly, however, till within about a century or so past. The present yearly consumption of the article in Great Britain, is estimated at 30,000,000 pounds. Russia and Holland consume more tea than any other countries of Europe, except Great Britain ; the former about 6,000,000, and the latter about 3,000,000 pounds. The imports into Germany amount to about 2,000,000 pounds, and into France to about 250,000 pounds only. A recent writer in a British Review, esti- mates the consumption of tea in Europe as follows: Great Britain 40,000,000 pounds; Russia 6.500,000; Holland 3,800,000; Germany 2,000,000, and France 250,000. It is surprising that the consumption of this beverage should be so small, comparative- ly, in France; though what is wanting in 2* 14 TEA AND COFFEE. the use of tea, they make up in the use of wine, coffee and tobacco.* From official documents published by the Congress of the United States, we learn that during the four years ending with the year 1837, the importations of tea into the United States, amounted to 64,040,927 pounds, or over 16,000,000 pounds a year. What the ex- ports of the same article were during the same period, we cannot learn; but they must have been very trifling. The increase of imports has been rapid. In the year 1821, it was less than 5,000,000 pounds. In 1828, it was nearly 8,000,000, while in 1837, nine years later, the amount had more than doubled. At the rate of increase for the four years ending with 1837, it is estimated that the amount of importations of tea, of all the various kinds, from 1838 to 1850, inclusive of these two years, will be 245,000,000 pounds, which will probably cost the consumers no less than $150,000,000; if not more. The cost to the consumers of what has already been * See a table at the end of thia volume. HISTORY OF TEA. 15 imported, and for aught we know consum- ed, between the years 1821 and 1837 in- clusive, is estimated at $125,000,000. Thus far has it been our object to pre- sent, in a condensed form, the European and American history of this foreign leaf. Of its Asiatic history we know very little. We only know that it is consumed in China and Japan in amazing quantities, and to a considerable extent in the adjacent countries. Some further estimates in regard to the consumption of tea, will be made hereaf- ter, when we come to speak of its use as a national and individual waste. CHPATER III. TEA A MEDICINE. Preliminary remarks. Tea shown to be a medicinal substance. The proofs. 1. Analogy. Opium. 2. Experiment. Experiments by Drs. Lettsom, Smith and Beddoes. Observations of Mr. Cole of Great Britain. Abstract of ten cases or experiments. Tes- timony of Drs. Hooper, Cullen, Bell, Combe, Sweet- ser and Beaumont, and Mr. Graham. Experiments by Dr. Burdell. The London Quarterly Review. We shall now attempt to show that tea, of all the ordinary varieties found in our market, is properly and strictly a medicinal substance. Who does not know that "a good cup of tea," as it is called, taken either at the close of a fatiguing day's work, or when we are drowsy, is sufficient to remove the fatigue or dispel the drowsiness ? Who has not read in the life of Anthony Benezet, a distinguished and philanthropic teacher, of Philadelphia, that he always removed the TEA A MEDICINE. 17 Fatigue of a long day, in the school-room, by strong tea 1 And how many literary men have done, and are still doing the same? But we need not go abroad in search of examples of the exciting qualities and ten- dencies of this substance. We find people every where, females especially, in the daily use of this beverage, either for the purpose of relieving fatigue or a disposition to sleep. And yet no one, we believe, will pretend, for one moment, that his strength is restored in these cases, by the nourish- ment afforded by the tea, for if there be any, it can only be in very small quantity. It takes some time for a substance to go through the whole process of digestion in the stomach and be converted into blood, to give us strength in that way. It must first be softened and dissolved by the gas- tric juice: then it must be manufactured into chyme; then into chyle; and lastly into blood;—so that there is reason for be- lieving that we do not receive any material strength from the blood which is made from nutritious matter received into the stomach, till several hours have elapsed IS TEA AND COFFEE. after taking it. Whereas, the relief from tea is sudden; nay, almost instantaneous. It comes to us, in all probability, though the medium of the nervous system. The nerves of the stomach are excited—in other words, irritated—by the substance received ; the irritation is conveyed to the brain, and this last is roused to impart a new and increased, though short lived en- ergy to the whole system. Now whether this increased energy of the system—this fictitious strength—this strength without strength—is imparted by tea, or coffee, or opium, or tobacco, or al- cohol, or by several of them together, makes, in our view, but very little differ- ence. None of these substances form a particle of blood, or give a particle of nat- ural, healthy strength. They only give strength, or relieve fatigue, by nervous irritation. The female who restores her strength by tea, and the laboring man by a glass of spirits, and the Turk by his pill of opium, are in precisely the same condi- tion; so far, we mean, as the matter of stimulation, merely, is concerned. TEA A MEDICINE. 19 We do not mean to say that one of these substances is just as strong as the other; or that one of them is just as bad as the other; or that one of them produces all the bad consequences of the others. We only mean to say, that in so far as they seem to give renewed strength, they do it pre- cisely in the same way; and if one is hurtful, the others are. Now that the stimulus of opium, and spirits, and tobacco are hurtful, we suppose to be so generally admitted that we need not stop here to affirm or to prove it. Their use is followed by a depression, unless the dose is repeated, equal at least to the pre- vious excitement—probably somewhat ex- ceeding it. But to be more particular. We have said that the first effects of tea are exciting. This is obvious from the quickened powers of conversation which are manifested so soon after its reception. The "genius of tattling" has sometimes been said to have his bower in the sedi- ment of Ihe tea cup. Certain it is, that not a few tea drinkers, at times, so far lose the powers of self-possession and self-corn- 20 TEA AND COFFEE. mand, as to do and say many things, which in their cooler hours are deeply regretted. The effects of this beverage are also seen in the excited, and even flushed counte- nance; and in the preternaturally animat- ed eye. Indeed, the vital energies of the system are roused to such increased activ- ity, as to change even the gait, and pro- mote, for a time, general activity, and perhaps general industry. Just as it is, often, with those who are excited with opium or alcohol, in a moderate dose. In- deed, this is the true idea of what is called, in medical language, a stimulus. There is indeed a sense in which every thing which influences the movements of the living system, may be called a stimulus; light and air not excepted. But in medical language, a stimulus, or stimulant, is that which has power to raise the living system above the standard of health. Such are opium, camphor, ammonia, alcohol and fermented liquors, wine, coffee, tea, &c. We have said that tea is not only excit- ing in its first effects, but that its" use is TEA A MEDICINE. 21 speedily followed by vital or nervous de- pression. A large number of medicinal substances which are called by the general name of stimulants, have these depressing or sedative effects, as soon as the first ef- fects—the feelings of excitement—are over. Perhaps this is the case with all which, without making any blood, are able to raise the energies of the system above their natural healthy standard, only that when they are not very strong, or are given in a very small dose, the depressing effects are not so quickly experienced, or so readily perceived. It is in the sedative or depressing effects of tea that we find another strong proof of its medicinal character. If it did not first raise us above the line of health, we should never find ourselves sinking so far below it afterwards. The following are some of the usual in- dications that the system is suffering from the sedative, depressing, or secondary effects of excess in the use of tea, and which lead us to regard it in the light of an extra stimulus. 22 TEA AND COFFEE. The individual who uses it to excess, suffers from headache; wakefulness ; pal- pitation of the heart ; trembling ; loss of muscular strength; loss of appetite; indigestion ; nervous prostration ; great susceptibility to fatigue; chronic affections of the vital organs, accompanied, often, by emaciation, sallowness of the skin, and a peculiar appearance of the surface of the body, that reminds one of the application of an astringent substance.* If the countenance is naturally fresh, it may, indeed, in some instances, require many years to remove the freshness en- tirely, and produce the morbid appearance * it might be worth while to inquire whether the trans- mission of the particles of an astringent, like tea, through the excretories of the skin, actually produces an effect not( unlike that produced on hides in a tanner's vat. The eaters of tea grounds are especially noted for this leathery complexion—if I may so term it—as a consid- erable part of the tanning property remains in the tea leaves after it has been infused in the usual manner. Besides, dissections of the human body show, that not- withstanding its great vital power, the stomach is largely affected by the tannin contained in the tea. TEA A MEDICINE. 23 of which we have spoken; but the effect, though slow, is certain. We do not, indeed, deny, that in the case of a given individual, many other in- fluences may have been combined with the tea to produce the distressing effects to which we have alluded. Yet it is still true, that many a case of distressing ner- vous disease owes its existence entirely to the use of tea, (joined, perhaps, to that of coffee)—such, for example, as the nervous headache, or as it is commonly, but im- properly called, the sick headache. On this point, we have the most abundant testimony. A dentisf of New York* in a letter to the author of this essay, thus remarks: " Not a case of this disease (sick head- ache) has ever occurred within my knowl- edge, except with the drinkers of narcotic drinks, (meaning tea and coffee,) and not a * We allude to Dr. John Burdell, the author of " Ob- servations on the Structure, Physiology and Anatomy of the Teeth;" to whom we are indebted for many important facts on the subject of which we are now treating, and for several interesting experiments. 24 TEA AND COFFEE. case has failed of being cured on the entire renunciation of those drinks. In saying this, however, it is by no means claimed that there are no cases of sick headache to be found, except those which owe their origin to tea and coffee. I only affirm that I have never known of any such cases. Whatever may be said of the violations of physical law in other respects, tea and coffee may claim sick headache as their highly favored representative." Who are they that complain most of ner- vousness, of irregular appetite and sleep, of unequal warmth and strength, of their own ill health in general; and,who suffer most from the dread of poverty, sickness, death and future wo ? Who find most fault with the world around them, and with the dispensations and arrangements of Divine Providence? Who complain most, other things being equal, of the emptiness and sickliness of all things be- low the sun ? We do not ask who enter- tains the strongest belief of this kind, but who complains most, and frets most ? As- suredly, it is the person who uses the TEA A MEDICINE. 25 most excitants of the nervous system; and in this class, tea and coffee drinkers often have the pre-eminence. Not indeed when under the first influence of their beverage, but while they are suffering from its seda- tive effects. But we shall be required to prove that tea has the sedative or depressing effects which its enemies ascribe to it. It is not enough, we shall be told, to assert it. We want proof. Our first proof is drawn from analogy. Let us consider, for a moment, the effects of opium—a drug which has gained a high degree of celebrity, not only among physicians, but among the community gen- erally. Its power to alleviate pain is well' known. If the nerve of a tooth is so ex- cited or irritated as to cause pain, opium, either solid or in the form of laudanum, is applied to allay the irritation and soothe the worried powers of the nervous system. So in case of pain from almost any other cause. Opium, in a larger or smaller dose, according to the exigency, relieves it. If the pain is very great, a dose is required 3* 26 TEA AND COFFEE. in proportion ; but if slight, it need not be large. The larger the dose, however, the less obvious are its exciting effects, and the sooner do we perceive its secondary, depressing tendency. If the dose, on the contrary, is very small, the excitement or animation produced lasts longer, and the depression is either less obvious or less im- mediate. So is it, in fact, with alcohol, and with digitalis or fox glove; and in fact with almost all exciting substances—excit- ing we mean to the nervous system, almost exclusively—and hence is it that by com- mon consent they are excluded from the list of articles adapted to common use, at our tables, either alone or when mingled with our food or our appropriate drink.* * This statement may require a little qualification. Mustard, pepper, spice, ginger, cinnamon, and many more things which come under the general name of condiments, and are used, not to give us nourishment in themselves, but only to give us a relish for those other things which are supposed to contain real nourishment, are of this description, and are, therefore, really and properly medicines. And we have known alcohol mixed with coffee, as arsenic has been with cheese, and asa- TEA A MEDICINE. 27 Every temporary reprieve from nervous headache, or from any other painful affec- tion, ^hich tea affords, confirms the idea of an analogy in nature and properties between this substance and opium, and other sedative medicines, and shows its unfitness for use as a common beverage.* But we are not left to analogy in this fcetida with beef-steak. For proof that arsenic has been mixed with cheese, see Library of Health, vol. ii. page €9. As for asafoetida, it is customary for a Professor of Materia Medica, in one of our colleges, to relate to his students an anecdote of a cook in Philadelphia, whose reputation for preparing beaf-steak becoming vary great, and the public curiosity becoming much excited on the subject, it was ascertained that her skill and success lay in rubbing over the platter on which she laid the steak, hot from the fire, with a piece of asafoetida. Is there any security, then, that opium, tobacco, and other strong medicines, will not come to our tables ? • Some, it is true, may not see at once why an arti- cle may not be proper as food and medicine both. We can only say, in a work like this, that they cannot and must not both go together; that food and medicine are utterly incompatible with each other in their effects; and that in this view—were the view generally re- ceived—many of those encomiums might be spared which have been so profusely lavished on onions, toma- toes and many other eatables. 28 TEA AND COFFEE. matter. The dentist to whom we have already referred, having often noticed the great nervousness of tea drinkers—s^reat, indeed, that he was often led in conse- quence of it to suspend for a time his operations—resolved at length on the fol- lowing experiment. One pound of young hyson tea having been steeped in soft water, and the " grounds" strained out, the decoction was evaporated to half a pint. This extract was applied to the nerves of those teeth which required an operation, in order to lessen their sensibility, and thus prevent much of the pain. The experiment was completely successful; and finding it an- swer his purpose, he has ever since con- tinued the use of it. In this way it is said that this substance may be used as an efficient substitute for opium, oil of cloves, creosote and arse- nic, all of which have been more or less employed by the mass of the people, and by dentists themselves, for the purpose of lessening or destroying the sensibility of the dental nerves. TEA A MEDICINE. 29 There are, however, other and numer- ous experiments on record, showing the se- dative effects of tea on the human system. We shall pass by, for the present, the re- markable ones of Drs. Smith, Lettsom and Beddoes, and refer the reader to the more recent observations of a distinguised Brit- ish surgeon, Mr. John Cole. This gentleman, who is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, read before the London Medical Society, not long since, a series of observations on the deleterious effects of tea and coffee, when used in excessive quantities, which after undergoing a public discussion, was pub- lished in the London Lancet, a medical journal of high reputation,and subsequently introduced to the columns of the Transyl- vania Medical Journal, published at Lex- ington, Kentucky. We consider the facts and observations—experiments, we have called them—of Mr. Cole, as of very high importance in their bearing on the subject before us, and of unquestionable authority. Mr. C. first endeavors to show, that the evil effects of tea are more obvious, on 30 TEA AND COFFEE. those constitutions whose tone has been lowered from the healthy standard, by fa- tigue, sickness, loss of blood, &c. In other words, he shows that the persons who suppose themselves most benefited by tea, are the very persons, above all others, who are most readily and most certainly injur- ed by its use. He next proceeds to describe the symp- toms of what may, with propriety, be called the tea disease—a disease which, in regard to many of its symptoms, is be- coming quite common, not only in the eastern, but also in the western hemis- phere. He says : " Tea seems also to have the power of reducing the constitution, when taken for a long time in excessive quantity, to that stale in which it becomes accessible to its deleterious influence. In a longer or a shorter time after taking the beverage—from a few minutes to two or three hours—an uncomfortable feeling arises in the stom- ach ; a craving, sinking emptiness, which soon acquires a degree of intensity that is almost insupportable. The hunger-like TEA A MEDICINE. 31 gnawing and craving are described as to the last degree painful to bear. The stom- ach being full has no effect in preventing its accession; neither does eating relieve it. This is often all that is felt for a long time; but by degrees a fluttering, of as a bird, in the left side, is superadded; and a feeling of fulness pervades the chest, with breathless and frequent sighing. The fulness is more especially felt about the clavicles—the " shoulder blades "—and root of the neck. " When black tea or coffee has been taken, considerable excitement often ushers in this succession of phenomena; the face becomes flushed, the eyes sparkle with an unusual brilliance; all the earlier effects of intoxication from alcohol are observ- able—the pulse being full and throbbing, and considerably quickened. If green tea have been taken, the previous excitement is less, or perhaps not at all perceptible; the skin soon becomes pale, the eyes be- come sunken, the pulse feeble, quick and fluttering, or slow and weak. ': Whichever may have been taken, in 33 TEA AND COFFEE. the progress of the affection, the hands and feet often become cold as marble, and be- dewed with a clammy sweat. Efforts to warm them are made in vain, even in the hottest weather ; a feeling of coldness and numbness also invades the back part o£ the head. " This is the milder form of the disease, (if I may so term it,) the one which is most commonly seen; but occasionally a variety of aggravated symptoms arise. To the coldness and benumbed feeling of the back of the head, there is added formica- tion of the scalp "—a sensation as if ants Avere creeping in it—" violent pain in the head, dimness of the sight, unsteadiness in walking, and vertigo; and these are ac- companied by a fluttering feeble pulse. To the feeling of fulness of the chest and about the clavicles, are added threatening of suffocation, insensibility, and convul- sions. The sufferings felt in the stomach are aggravated to violent spasms. The fluttering at the heart becomes pain, vio- lent palpitation, or enfeebled action, bring- ing a syncope. I may add, here, that the TEA A MEDICINE. 33 mind does not escape, but partakes of the disorders of the body, as is seen by the temper becoming peevish and irritable, so as to render the sufferer a torment to all those about him." This is the general account of the symp- toms of the " tea disease." Who does not see, in an article that can induce all these mischiefs on the living human sys- tem, a medicinal substance of great power —one that cannot be safely trifled with. Mr. Cole sums up the whole as follows : " The stomach is the first to experience the deleterious influence, as is evidenced by the craving, sinking, empty feeling, with which it is affected ; next the heart is felt to flutter and palpitate; then there seems to come on a difficulty about the large blood vessels, and a fulness is felt about the clavicles; and lastly, the influence extends to the brain, producing insensi- bility and convulsions ;—but the heart is the organ whose functions are most con- stantly and most seriously disturbed." Mr. C. brings forward a list of ten cases of disease from tea drinking, which oc- 4 34 TEA AND COFFEE. curred in his own practice, some of which are very interesting. Their great length renders it impossible for us to give place to them in this work, although they could scarcely fail to instruct and profit every one who is seeking for information on the subject. We can only give a general ac- count of them. His first case was that of a female, thirty-five years of age, who complained of great pain in the stomach after eating, with a sense of sinking and emptiness, and such a feeling of faintness that she could scarcely walk, followed at length by the fluttering in the side, fulness about the clavicles, and vomiting. Multitudes who have this feeling of faintness, unattended as it usually is by the pain and vomiting, take a glass of cider, or wine, or spirits, or a little medi- cine of some sort. This usually removes the gnawing and faintness, but in nine cases in ten, induces habits which are much worse—frequently downright intem- perance. The second case was that of a female, TEA A MEDICINE. 35 about forty years of age. She was just recovering from a catarrhal fever, when one morning about half an hour after tak- ing her usual breakfast, consisting of tea and bread and butter, she was seized with symptoms similar to those already men- tioned, except the vomiting. It appeared on inquiry, that her tea that morning, (it was black tea,) had not only been acci- dentally made stronger than usual, but she had drank more than she was accustomed to do. This lady, had she been told at any time previous to her sickness that tea was injurious, would in all probability have met the suggestion, by saying that she had used it for a long series of years, not only without the least injury, but with positive benefit. Whereas, admitting it had afforded temporary relief, in some of her nervous affections, the tone of her constitution had been constantly lowering, and she was approaching all the while the confines of disease. She was under the necessity of having her favorite beverage made stronger and stronger, or of drinking 36 TEA AND COFFEE. more of it in order to effect a cure; and she was so impairing her vital energies, that those exciting causes of disease, which a more vigorous constitution might have repelled, would now take effect. Thus it is with all those things whose daily use lowers the tone of the constitution, as tea, coffee, fermented and distilled liquors, to- bacco, opium, condiments, oils, &c. &c. The person who uses them may flatter himself that they do him no harm, because sentence against an evil work is not exe- cuted speedily, as Solomon expresses it; yet nothing can be more certain, than that all persons who use these things are low- ering the standard of health, by impairing the tone of their vital powers, so that by and by a cause comparatively trifling may excite disease. No musket, however well loaded and primed—furnished with lock, flint, &c.—will go off till ignited by a spark; and in like manner is it with those who are loading all their life time with disease. The brands which they are per- petually applying will be pretty sure to cause explosions more or less frequently; TEA A MEDICINE. 37 and a small spark will but seldom fail to produce the same effect. In the case be- fore us, the long use of tea and other im- proper food and drink, had so prepared the constitution for disease, that a little more of it than usual—and a little stronger— was sufficient to ignite the mass and cause the explosion. Mr. C.'s third case was that of a lady also. She was thirty years of age, and had long been in the habit of using green tea, very strong, and in large quantity. For a year before Mr. C. was called to see her, she had been subject to violent spasms—cramp, as it is often called—in the stomach, which had at length be- come so frequent and severe, that the slightest exertion, even a little walking, was sufficient to bring them on. When Mr. C. arrived, she was suffering from the spasms, and they were of unusual violence. She had, likewise, the other symptoms of tea disease. On inquiry, he was fully satis- fied that all the trouble, in this case, was the effect of the tea. She was accordingly directed to leave off using it, which she 4* 38 TEA AND COFFEE. did. For some weeks she had no return of the spasms or of the other symptoms of disease, till one day venturing upon a single cup of her favorite beverage, she had a slight attack immediately afterward. From that time forth she persevered in total abstinence, and remained perfectly well. We ought to have said before now, that this distinguished surgeon and physician was not in the habit of prescribing any medicine in strongly marked cases of the tea disease, (except during the fits or par- oxysms,) unaccompanied with any other affection. Total abstinence from both tea and coffee was in general his only pre- scription, and was eminently successful in all the cases he has recorded, as well as in the large number of similar cases which he assures us he has omitted to describe.— What stronger proof do we want that it was the tea that did the mischief? His fourth case was that of a female, thirty years of age. She had the usual symptoms of excess in the use of tea, with the usual suffering of the nervous system. TEA A MEDICINE. 39 The tea she used was also green tea. She had taken fox glove and colchicum for her complaints a fortnight, but with no effect but to aggravate her sufferings, as might have been expected from the addition of two more poisons to one which was already destroying her constitution. She abstained from tea, and recovered in three days. The fifth case was a female twenty-five years of age, a famous tea drinker. When Mr. C. was called, he prohibited tea as usual ; but was surprised to find, on re- peating his daily visits for a week or so, that she got no better. On a more rigid search, he found she was still indulging in tea, both night and morning, as usual. She now complied with his prohibition, and in a few days was well. Case sixth was that of an author and parliamentary reporter, of middle age. He was a great drinker of green tea, and sometimes drank it strong, as his common drink, for five or six hours together, to keep up his mental strength. It came at length to produce such an effect upon him, that two or three times a week he was found 40 TEA AND COFFEE. lying in a state of insensibility on the floor. He was cured in the usual manner. A middle aged mother was the seventh case. She had for some time been subject to occasional fits of insensibility, the at- tacks of which had recurred in the even- ing. She was in theliabitual use of black tea, morning and evening; and Mr. C, suspecting this to be the cause, especially as she had taken the strongest medicines with no success, put her, at once, upon his usual course of abstinence from every drink but water, and she quickly recov- ered. A shop-keeper, about forty years of age, is next mentioned. He was not confined to the use of tea, but was a great coffee drinker. His symptoms were not unlike those already described, but his head was much more affected. To total abstinence from all drinks but water, was added, in this case, for ten days, a little valerian. The ninth case was that of a young man of twenty-two—a great drinker, even at this early age, of black tea. In addition to other symptoms of the tea disease, he TEA A MEDICINE. 41 was at length attacked with bleeding at the nose, and finally with convulsions, or as the bystanders called them, " fits." He was cured in a short time in nearly the usual manner. The last case mentioned is that of a lady—a devoted slave to the tea-pot. She had long been a sufferer in the usual man- ner, but would not abandon the cause of her suffering, till a severe cough and bloody expectoration compelled her to do so. Mr. C. concludes his remarks as follows: " I could extend the number of cases so as to form a body of evidence which it would be difficult to resist. Those I have brought forward are, I think, sufficient to excite considerable doubt as to the harm- less qualities of rThe cups that cheer,but not inebriate.' " If it be true, as it has been held "—and with truth, we are quite confident—" that the continued disturbance of the function of an organ, will induce change of struc- ture, what are we to expect from the use 42 TEA AND COFFEE. of tea twice a day, when it deranges the function of the heart for three or four hours after each time of its being taken ? If the answer be that it may be expected to in- duce some structural disease, then there arises this other question—May not the greater prevalence of cardiac disease"— heart disease—" of late years, have been considerably influenced by the increased consumption of tea and coffee ? " Now can any person who reads of these tremendous effects of tea in reducing the powers of the human constitution, when taken in excess, presume to doubt that a medicine which, in large quantities, is capable, (under circumstances that favor its action,) of doing so much mischief, is more or less injurious in the smallest quantity?* We may here add, that tea—green tea, * If tea is not injurious in small quantities, it is quite unlike most or all other medicinal substances of the same class. Small doses of alcohol, opium, calomel, &c., produce even more lasting effects upon the system, in proportion to their quantity, than large ones. How then can it be otherwise with tea ? TEA A MEDICINE. 43 especially—as a medicine, is not confined to London or New York, but is attracting the attention of practitioners of medicine elsewhere. The Boston Medical and Sur- gical Journal—one of the last to admit to its columns any thing likely to weigh against the popularity of a favorite bever- age—in a communication in the number for May 1st, speaks of green tea as an ef- ficient medicine in burns and scalds ; which could hardly be, if it were that in- ert or harmless thing it has generally been supposed. It is also spoken of in the Transylvania journal of medicine, as an anodyne in some cases; as truly so as opium. We had intended to insert numerous extracts from medical and other writers of acknowledged authority, tending to show the influence which tea has upon the hu- man constitution, and especially upon the nervous system; but we shall be obliged to confine ourselves to a few of those which seem the most important. Hooper, in his Medical Dictionary, says —" Tea. in its natural state, is a narcotic 44 TEA AND COFFEE. plant, on which account the Chinese re- frain from its use till it has been divested of this property by keeping it at least twelve months. When taken too copious- ly, it is apt to occasion weakness, tremor, palsies, and various other symptoms arising from narcotic plants." All the teas we receive, must have been kept, at the least, several months; and if in that time, though they have lost much of their narcotic power, they are still ca- pable of accomplishing the deadly work ascribed to them, especially by the exper- iments of Dr. Burdell of New York, and those of Drs. Smith, Lettsom and Beddoes, (which are to be mentioned presently,) what must be the virulence of the poison of the fresh gathered leaves ? Dr. Cullen, a Scotch physician of great eminence, whose writings are among the standard works of our best medical schools, says that " scientific experiments prove that an infusion of green tea has the effect to destroy the sensibility of the nerves, and the irritability of the muscles." He says further, without excluding the TEA A MEDICINE. 45 black tea, the properties of which we have already seen to be essentially the same with those of the green tea, only less ac- tive—" From the experiments above men- tioned, and from the observations which I have made in the course of fifty years, upon all sorts of persons, I am convinced that the properties of tea are both narcotic and sedative." But what does Dr. Cullen mean by nar- cotic? His definition is—"As their power and operation (that of narcotics in general) may be extended so far as to extinguish the vital principle altogether, they form that set of substances which properly and strictly may be called poisonous." The Encyclopaedia Americana says— "The effects of tea on the human system are those of every mild narcotic, taken in small quantities—exhilarating." The Catechism of Health—usually as- cribed to the distinguished Dr. Bell, of Philadelphia—says that " tea, (black tea, we suppose he means, as well as green,) when drank strong and in large quantity, 5 46 TEA AND COFFEE. impairs the powers of the stomach, pro- duces various nervous symptoms,"