alleged by Lettson, that the use of tea has been the cause of the increase of nervous and kindred complaints in colleges and seminaries. Still, his advice is sound when he states that “tea ought by no means to be the common drink of boarding schools, and when allowed, in moderation, the pupils should at the same time be informed that the constant or too frequent use of tea would be injurious to their health and constitutions. As whatever tends to impair the nerve power and ultimately the digestive organs, in strumuous children particularly, should be by all means avoided.” But if a diminution of the number of inflammatory diseases be one of the consequences of the increased consumption of tea, which is now generally conceded, it is very much in favor of its use, as however distracting nervous diseases may be, they are by no means so fatal as those of an inflammatory nature, more particularly as the former can be almost immediately remedied by relinquishing the use of tea or by simply omitting it from the breakfast for a time, at which meal it is certainly less proper to be used. The medicinal uses of tea, however, are not many, neither does its chemical analysis shed much light on its action on the human economy, a correct estimate of its particular action thereon having so far not been ascertained. So that before attempting any such estimate it will be necessary to consider that many of its attributed ill-effects may be due as much to the spurious leaves of other plants so frequently mixed with genuine tea-leaves for adulteration purposes, as well as to the deleterious compounds so often used in coloring, for the results of which pure tea is held responsible. The most dispassionate inquirers, however, regard it as a narcotic, the stimulating period of which is most conspicuous and of the longest duration, the active ingredient, theine, being an alkaloid identical with the caffeine of coffee, the medical action of the tea infusion upon the system is the result of the several effects of this alkaloid formed by combination of the theine, tannin, volatile oil, and the hot water. Of these elements theine probably plays the most important part, and like all other potent alkaloids theine is a powerful modifier of the nerve functions, increasing the action of the skin and cooling the body by lessening the force of the circulation, but does not cause any congestion of the mucous membrane, particularly in that of the bowels. In answer to the question whether _theine_ produces nervousness and wakefulness, reliable authorities answer: No! But that, on the contrary, the effect of theine upon the human system is a calming and soothing one, producing a sense of repose and supplying to the body that which is lost by fatigue.