The experiments made with tea on a number of animals for the purpose of ascertaining its effects on the nervous and muscular apparatus give varying results, the most important being that of lessening the amount of nitrogenous excreta, notably that of the urine, which means to diminish the rate at which nitrogenous substances are oxydized within the body, such action being probably due to the volatile oil, as Lehman found the same oil in roasted coffee to produce the same action in his experiments. There being a substance in the flesh or muscles of all animals known as _kreatine_, the chemical properties of which are analogous to those of _theine_, and it is now generally accepted that these substances are most agreeable to the human system as food which most nearly resemble the compound that form the tissues and muscles of the body, while those act as poison whose composition is most different from that of the tissues and muscles on which the life of the body depends. Scientists who have made this subject a special study, inform us that the substance known as kreatine is diminished by overwork and fatigue, and that, therefore, as _theine_ and _kreatine_ are chemically about one and the same property, the theory is accepted that the theine in tea supplies best that which is lost to the system by the wear and tear of life, the property termed _caffeine_ in coffee being identical with both, serving the same purpose. While Liebig suggests that theine contributes to the formation of _taurine_, a compound peculiar to bile, and Lehman found that its administration is followed by a slight augmentation of urea. It has also been proven that _theine_ and _quinine_ are similar in nature, and that on analysis these substances are shown to contain the same proportions of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and hydrogen, and, as is well known, quinine is about the only remedy used in intermittent and malarial fevers and ague. These facts being settled beyond dispute, it can be readily understood why it is that tea is so soothing and beneficial to those who may feel feverish, tired or debilitated. And while it is not claimed that tea alone will cure fever and ague, it certainly acts as a preventative.