COFFEE.
We come now to consider the various articles of food in detail. We shall
take for guide neither the luxurious life of the rich, who, on account
of his disordered stomach, constantly tickles his palate with dainties;
nor the miserable life of the poor, who, on account of his empty
stomach, is bound to find everything palatable. We wish rather to take
into consideration the food of that class of people in which the husband
works hard to support his family; and where the wife is a good
housewife, and cares for the health and strength of her husband and
children. In other words, we wish to consider the kind of food called
_household fare_, and speak of the meals as taken every day.
It is customary with most to take coffee in the morning.
Now, what are the qualities of coffee? Is coffee an article of food? Or
is it a beverage merely to quench the thirst? Is it a means of warming?
Or is it a spice? Medicine? Or perhaps poison?
It is strange that science has not yet reached the truth about these
questions.
Coffee has been chemically analyzed, and has been found to contain a
peculiar element, caffeine, which has an abundance of nitrogen. It is
remarkable also that tea has been found to contain an element called
theine, which has the same quantity of nitrogen.
As in some countries tea replaces coffee--this is especially the case in
Russia, Holland, England, and America--the great and ingenious
naturalist Liebig has come to the conclusion that it is nitrogen which
constitutes the chief value of tea and coffee as articles of food; and
as our blood needs nitrogen, in order to be able to form our muscles and
flesh, coffee, according to Liebig, must be counted among the articles
of food.
In later times this view has been attacked. Although it is true that
nitrogen is very abundant in coffee, and that we need nitrogen to form
muscles, yet it can never be the nitrogen which incites us to the
enjoyment of coffee. It is the berry of the coffee that contains the
nitrogen; a part of it escapes during the process of roasting; a great
part is thrown away with the coffee-grounds, so that the quantity of
nitrogen actually left in the infusion is exceedingly small. Besides, if
we enjoy in coffee only the nitrogen, we pay very high for it.
In the United States, annually about two hundred and fifty millions of
pounds of coffee are used; the cost is estimated at twenty-five millions
of dollars. Since the coffee itself is not consumed, but only the
infusion, it follows that about 100,000 pounds of nitrogen are consumed
at a cost of 250 millions of dollars, which is a terrible waste,
considering that for this money seven times as much nitrogen could be
taken, if, instead of coffee, meat were used, which contains also a
large quantity of nitrogen.
The natural sciences, therefore, show among their scholars professed
enemies of coffee. They are, from a medical as well as economical point
of view, decidedly opposed to its use. Some have even gone so far as to
declare it poisonous; a naturalist by name of Zobel proved that it
contains Prussic acid, one of the deadliest poisons. Fortunately we know
that this Prussic acid is rendered ineffectual by the ammoniac which
coffee contains, and which is used as an antidote against Prussic acid.
Be this as it may, we have reason to esteem coffee very highly. A
beverage which has become such a necessity to every nation, is of great
importance; and the instinct with which millions and millions of our
fellow-men are drawn to its enjoyment, is the best proof that the use of
coffee is not hurtful, but advantageous to man; notwithstanding the fact
that in some diseases it is forbidden, and that science has not yet
succeeded in showing us the real advantage of coffee as a means of
food.