The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1906-10-02
Il De III
THE EyAS no GET TF5E TfsEit9E AND
AVOID TIE TAltfSiig.

1ence, anH the Darker the LtguAA
IL the aIore EVIL are IT. EfFeets-
chfnese Tea Il sHfd 70 Be tac Hest
Perhaps may be allowed to make
some comments on n subject tllnt = OF
interest to al homes nanaelS-, q cup
of tea aud the making Of It. The frst
propositions is that the dark color Of
tea does not mean excellence. the sec
ond that the darl<er the liquid IS the
more evil are its ELECTS and the third
that the best tea IS Chinese. These
are the opinions of an importer. II IS
worth noting. think that they are
also the seieatffc opinions and, fur
Their. that this is case where doctors
agree What must properly be de7
scribed as the pharrnacolosy Of TeI is
simple and well understood. and as II
concerns every one it msy be briefly
discussed bere.
For practical purposes tea consists
of two things, the first being tnnnic
acid, also known as tannin, and the
second being theme, also known as
caffeine. Let us consider each Of
these The tannin, or fannie acid, oc-
ours in the tea leaf, as in SO many
uble than the theme and is much
less readily obtained from the Chinese
leaf than from the Indian, the latter,
together with the Cingalese, contain
ing much more Of this substance.
Tannic acid has no attractions for
the palate except in the case Of people
who like little bitterness, and It has
no action on the nervous system, none
of 1t, indeed, being absorbed by the
body. Its action upon the tissues with
which it comes into Immediate contact
is wholly deleterious. do not say that
It IS necessarily serious, but what ac-
ton there Is is wholly bad. Notably
does it Interfere with the digestibility
of foodstufIs. Plainly, therefore, chief
concern in the production OF the best
beverage from tea should be reduction
of the tannic acid to a minimum. This
is to be accomplished, first, by using
the leaf which contains least of it, and,
secondly, by sharply limiting the length
of the infusion. It has been clearly
proved that practically all the theme
that can be obtained from the leaf Is
obtained In the first three minutes,
whereas the amount of tannin In
creases markedly even between the
twentieth and fortieth minutes
In the opinion of not few. the said
tanuin is largely responsible for the del
eterious effects frequently attributed
to the theme. This last is an invaiu-
able ingredient of tea; it IS the same
substance as that which gives its value
to coffee, but is present in less album
dance in the tea leaf than in the coffee
bean; it Is n nervous stimulant of the
pureSt kind and belongs to an entire
IL different class from the pseudo
stimulants such as alcohol. In some
ways this is one of the most re-
markablc of al known drugs. 1t
appears to be unique in that
It stimulates the functions of the
cerebrlm, the highest portion Of the
brain. without inducing any subse-
quent reaction that can be detected.
1t has no second stage of action com
parable TO that of alcohol and opium,
and in cases Of emergency it Is capable
of postponfng sleep for hours, and,
more than that, OF maintaining the
mental activity as in the daytime.
may confess that IN past years have
systematically used caffeine for weeks
on end for this purpose without any
deleterious results; but this Is quoted
for illustration. not imitation.
Now, it is plain that, so far as the
remote consequences of cup of tea
are considered, it is the theme or caf-
feline that we desire, and the tannin
that we do not desire. The relative
solubIlIty OF the two substances ex-
nctly suits our convenience. If 1t were
to extract all the tnnnln In
order to get any theme there might be
some excuse for the lady who likes her
tea to have little body" to it. or for
the servant girl who keeps her teapot
on the hob all day. But the fact is
that it is possible to obtain all the
theme desired, while reducing the
OF tannin to a minimum. At
present the public taste is thoroughly
vitiated. No one who has given the
matter n fair consideration, or who
cares to permit any paIatal delIcacy at
all, Will question that the fine aroma
of cup OF properly made Chinese tea
is in a different category altogether
from the sensations aroused by the
solution of tannin, which
Is usually offered under the pseudonym
"a cup of tea," which things are writ
ten without prejudice.
In order TO make reasonably com
plete this brief account of the cup that
cheers, l must add that 1t contains a
small proportion of volatile oil, which
IS of small physiological Importance,
but which contributes largely to the
gustatory character OF tea. The chief
public delusion in this connection Is
that the sense OF taste may be i'm
plIcitly trusted. You think you are not
getting your moneys worth unless your
senses are violently assaiIed. 1t Is as
II you judged the power of music in
terms OF the amplitude of the sound
waves. Tile masters pIanissImO chord
has moro potency than the sforznndo Of
mediocrIty.-Pan Mall Gazette.