| Description Of Item | Press cuttings of page 85 from the Medical Circular, originally published on 8 February 1865. Publication of a letter under ‘General Correspondence’ sent to the Editor of the Medical Circular [James Yearsley?], concerning the abuse of tea, especially among the labouring classes. The writer remains anonymous, only signing as ‘a Poor-Law Surgeon’. It starts by quoting the paper of Dr Lyon Playfair, titled ‘Nature and Composition of Food’ which was published that same month in the periodical Good Words. The extract details the composition of tea and the effects of theine. According to the extract, in small quantity, it stops the deterioration of living tissues, but an excess has negative effect on ‘the nervous system, causes irritability of temper’ and disturbs digestion. This last effect, the author writes, provokes ‘obstinate stomach disorders’ he has often met with in his own practice. He then notes that, without tea, ‘the labouring poor’ would turn to beer in a public house, an environment which would lead to over-consumption. He suggests that a small allowance of meat and broth would be more beneficial for the labourer than ‘tea and beer’ and would cure most dyspeptic patients.
From the collection of Thomas Laycock. |