On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Dr. D. A. Caron, of Paris, has recently beel! engaged in investigating the effect of breakfasting on this favorite beverage, and from the results, he thinks that he is justified in asserting that most of the nervous and allied disorders which affect the dwellers in large cities are traceable to this source. He further informs us that when the coffee is mixed with milk, its nutritious properties are neutralized because of its fermentation being retarded. Coffee and milk in a bottle were twenty-scven days before they began to decompose, whilst milk and sugar wcre only three days. It is evident that thc astringent properties of the coffee hinder the digestion of the milk ; and, at the same time, the careine (or active principle of coffee) is set free, and acts on the membrane of the stomach in the same manner as vegetable alkalies, producing most disastrous consequences to the digestive apparatus. He tried many experiments on himself and friends, and found that in a few hours the pulse was lowered from 80 to 68, from that it weni down to 56, when he took some food, and it immediately rose to 72. He concludes by informing us that m any cases of irritation, nervousncss and hysteria have been entirely cured by a gentle course of ionics, and giving up the use of coffee.