With the object of inducing our tea-makers to reform their methods of tea-making, we quote some important recommendations of leading physicians. Dr. King Chambers, in his valuable manual of "Diet in Health and Disease," remarks that the uses of tea are (1) to give an agreeable flavour to warm water required as a drink; (2) to soothe the nervous system when it is in an uncomfortable state from hunger, fatigue, or mental excitement. The best tea therefore is, he contends, that which is pleasantest to the taste of the educated consumer, and which contains most of the characteristic sedative principles. As Dr. Poore has pointed out, tannic acid, which is one of the dangers as well as one of the pleasures of tea, is largely present in the common teas used by the poor. "The rich man," he says, "who wishes to avoid an excess of tannic acid in the 'cup that cheers,' does not allow the water to stand on the tea for more than five, or at most eight minutes, and the resulting beverage is aromatic, not too astringent, and wholesome. The poor man or poor woman allows the tea to simmer on the hob for indefinite periods, with the result that a highly astringent and unwholesome beverage is obtained. There can be no doubt that the habit of drinking excessive quantities of strong astringent tea is a not uncommon cause of that atonic dyspepsia, which seems to be the rule rather than the exception among poor women of the class of sempstresses." The late Dr. Edward Smith devoted considerable attention to this subject, and we cannot do better than quote his observations:--"The aim should be to extract all the aroma and dried juices containing theine, with only so much of the substance of the leaf as may give fulness, or, as it is called, _body_ to the infusion. If the former be defective, the respiratory action of the tea and the agreeableness of the flavour will be lessened, whilst if the latter be in excess there will be a degree of bitterness which will mash the aromatic flavour. As the theine is without flavour, its presence or absence cannot be determined by the taste of the tea. All agree, therefore, that the tea should be cooked in water, and that the water should be at the boiling-point when used; but there is not an agreement as to the duration of the infusing process. If the tea be scented or artificially flavoured, the aroma may be extracted in two minutes, but the proper aromatic oil of the tea requires at least five minutes for its removal. If flavour is to be considered, it is clear that an inferior tea should not be infused so long as a fine tea.