A treatise on foreign teas: Abstracted from an ingenious work, lately published, entitled An essay on the nervesSmith, Hugh
Science
A treatise on foreign teas: Abstracted from an ingenious work, lately published, entitled An essay on the nerves
Smith, Hugh
Tea -- Health aspects; Tea -- Health aspects -- China; Tea -- Health aspects -- India
Teas have been found to consist principally of narcotic salts, some
astringent oil, and earth. These being found in greater quantities in
bohea than in green teas, those who have very sensible and elastic
nerves must be seized with a greater tremor after drinking the former
than the latter. The continual and regular influx of the nervous juices
is stopped by their component fibres being contracted from the
roughness and restringency of such decoctions. The force of the heat,
or the brain's propulsion of its nervous juice, being inferior to the
resistance of the whole ramified fibres thus encreased by the sudden
contraction and unequal motion, the flow of the animal spirits must be
greatly impeded and disordered. In fact, the influx suffers a
suspension, until the fibres, by relaxing again, admit their empty
tubes to receive their appropriated liquids. Thus even green tea must,
especially if taken strong and often, stop the natural circulation of
humours, and produce the attendant defects of depression of spirits,
deficiency of secretion, loss of appetite, decrease of strength, waste
of body, and, finally, a total want of effective vigour in all the
animal functions. But, as above observed, bohea tea possessing in
greater quantity the pernicious ingredients, the vessels are thrown
into momentary spasms and convulsive vibrations, by the relaxing power
of the narcotic salts, and the contracting force of the astringent oil
and earth. And here it must be noticed, that oil mixed with salt is
rendered astringent: thus all vegetables, where a mixture of both
prevails, are reckoned stimulating. The narcotic power of the salt is
derived from its hindering the flux of the animal spirits through the
nerves.
The stomach and bowels being weakened by the above causes, windy
complaints or flatulencies are consequently produced. This caused Dr.
Whytt, in his advice to patients afflicted with such diseases, to
desire they would abstain from India tea, as one of the flatulent
aliments chiefly to be avoided.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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