In making tea it is important to use a tea-pot which is quite dry, in order to avoid mustiness; to pour a small quantity of boiling water into the tea-pot and then out again, so that the infusion may be made at the temperature of boiling water; and to use water which has only freshly come to the boil, and so has not been rendered flat, and not to infuse longer than five minutes. For persons of weak digestion, the best kind of tea is that obtained by pouring boiling water on the leaves, and then immediately pouring the resulting infusion into another hot tea-pot. In all cases where tea has to be kept a considerable time, it should be poured into a second tea-pot, the leaves being left behind. Indigestion is not an uncommon consequence of tea-drinking; caused by the excess of tannin in the tea, by the other constituents of the tea, or more commonly by the practice of drinking tea in small sips, with bread and butter. The tea infusion usurps the place of the saliva, the secretion of saliva remaining partially in abeyance. The presence of tannin in tea renders it an undesirable part of a substantial meal. Tannin coagulates albumin, and retards its solution by the digestive juices. Hence “high teas” and “tea-dinners,” unless the tea is very weak, are objectionable. The practice of drinking tea with every meal is inexcusable. For quenching thirst during active exercise, and rendering possible prolonged exertions, tea is unsurpassed. COFFEE. Coffee is the seed of the berry of the _Caffea Arabica_. Each berry contains two seeds, or beans as they are sometimes incorrectly called. The coffee is prepared by roasting the seeds until they assume a reddish-brown colour, in which process they lose 15 per cent. in weight and gain 30 per cent. in bulk. During the process of roasting, a volatile oil having a powerful aromatic smell is developed. This is not produced in such large quantities from fresh seeds; the best time for roasting varying, however, for different varieties of coffee. The amount of =Volatile Oil= in coffee is much less than in tea. As it is elicited during the process of roasting, this should be done with nicety and care. It is effected in an iron cylinder made to revolve over a fire. After the roasting, the sooner the seeds are ground the better the coffee. When it cannot be immediately used, it should be kept in closed canisters, and not in paper or open jars. In addition to the volatile oil, which is contained in roasted coffee in the proportion of about 1 part in 50,000, coffee contains =caffeine=, of which there is 3∕4 to 1 per cent., and an =astringent acid=, called caffeo-tannic or caffeic acid, which differs from ordinary =tannin= in that it does not blacken a solution of an iron salt.