Tº tº E A ſº I s E
ON
THE EFFECTS 0F 00FFEE.
------——— *-es-º-º-º-º:
By Dr. SAMUEL HAHNEMANN.
--—i.
7%anslated by Wm. L. Bryſogle, M. D., Louisville, Ky.
CINCINNATI:
A. F. WORTHINGTON & CO.,
- 17o WEST FourTH STREET,
1876.
T ER E A T IS E
ON
THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
By DR. SAMUEL HAHNEMANN.
TRANSLATED BY
WM. L. BREYFOGLE, M. D.,
Ilouisvil, LE, KY.
L O U ISV II, L E :
BRADLEY & GILBERT, CORNER -THIRD AND GREEN STREETS.
I875.
I N T R O DUCT I O N.
THIS TREATISE was written and published by Dr. Hahn-
emahnn, in Dresden, in 18O3. It was then translated by
E. G. De Brunnow into the French language in 1824. It
is from this latter the present translation is made.
I regard this little treatise as invaluable, not only by
reason of its being the only treatise on this subject, but
for the thorough, conclusive, and satisfactory manner in
which the subject has been presented.
Through the assistance of my friend, Mr. James B.
James, of New Albany, Indiana, I am enabled to present
as accurate a translation as the construction of the two
languages will allow.
With these few remarks I commend the work to the
careful study of the medical profession.
WM. L. BREYFOGLE.
147942
PR E FA C E.
I have just offered to all civilized nations the French
translation of a celebrated German work entitled: Organon
of the Art of Healing, by Doctor Hahnemann,” a work
which has for its object the total reform of medicine, by
bringing it back to simple and fixed principles, drawn from
nature and experience. The treatise which, in these sheets,
I offer to the public, is from the same author. Both works
have an intimate relation; and, to use a comparison drawn
from jurisprudence, the first is the principal, the latter is the
accessory which serves as a prop and support to the former.
It will, therefore, be necessary, in the first place, that I say
a few words about the author and his Organon, in order to
place my readers in a proper point of view.
Mr. Hahnemann. is one of the most distinguished physi-
cians of his time. Adorned with all the sciences, in general,
necessary to a scholar, he is possessed, especially in medi-
cine, of the most profound and extensive acquirements. A
number of important articles concerning therapeutics and
medical subjects, as well as several interesting discoveries in
chemistry, have distinguished his name in the republic of
letters, and a practice of half a century, consecrated to the
services of suffering humanity, has given him a just title to
the gratitude of his compatriots. The eminent genius, after
* The complete title of that translation is: Organon of the Art of Healing,
translated from the Original German of Doctor Samuel Hahnemann, Coun-
sellor of his Serene Highness, the Duke of Anhalt-Koethen, by Ernest George
DeBrunnow, Dresden. Arnold, bookseller and editor, 1824. This book may
be found in Paris at Messrs. Bossange & Brothers', and at Messrs. Treuttel and
Wuertz’s.
vi PREFACE.
having observed, during a long series of years, the curative
process in use, perceived the inefficiency and uncertainty of
the different methods adopted by the schools. He believed
that the principal cause of the vagueness of medicine was to
be found in the ignorance which then existed as to the spe-
cific and pure effects of medicaments. Convinced that med-
icinal virtues could be discovered, neither by chemical
analyses, nor by the taste or odor, nor by metaphysical
speculation; convinced that the trial of remedies in diseases
does not make us acquainted with their true nature, since
the symptoms caused by the medicament are then confounded
with the symptoms of the disease; finally, persuaded that
the custom of nearly always mixing three, four, five or more
ingredients together rendered impossible all pure experience
on the relative qualities of each one of them in particular,
he resolved to open a new course, without doubt the most
natural, that is, to try the virtues of the various simple med-
icinal substances on healthy men, removing from them dur-
ing the time of the trial all heterogeneous irritation. The
remarkable result of his researches was: That each medica-
ment produces in a healthy body a particular artificial disease,
composed of more or fewer symptoms. This first step being
taken, he proceeded to the second, that is, to apply to existing
diseases such simple remedies, known by their pure and spe-
cific effects. It was then that he discovered the great truth
which forms the basis of his curative theory, namely: To
cure a dynamic disease in the most certain, most rapid,
mildest, and most durable manner, a remedy must be chosen
capable of producing on healthy men a totality of artificial
affections as nearly similar as possible to the totality of the
symptoms of the natural disease in question.
It was by reason of this principle that the new curative
method received the denomination of the homoeopathic
method, formed from the Greek words homoion and pathos,
like and suffering.
After having followed this new course during ten years,
and having always reaped the most happy results from it,
Mr. Hahnemann hesitated no longer to publish his discovery
PREFACE. vii
in the first edition of his Organon* of the Art of Healing,
which was published at Dresden in 1810 by Arnold, book-
seller and editor. A new edition, revised and corrected, ap-
peared in 1819, and this is the one which I have just
translated.
The efforts of the celebrated author were always crowned
with the most brilliant success. He became the founder of
a reformed medical school, and his name will live forever in
the annals of science, as well as in those of humanity.
Should any one become interested in the remarkable fortunes
which the cause of the new doctrine experienced, he will find
some curious details of it in my Eapose of the Reform of the
Medical Art undertaken in Germany by Dr. Hahnemazun.i.
But this is enough to make my readers acquainted with the
homoeopathic method. I return to my subject.
Whoever reads with attention the Organon of Mr. Hahne-
mann will be fully convinced that all homoeopathic cures
have as an essential condition of success the observance of a
particular diet different in several respects from that which
the schools usually prescribe. The dietetic of the author is
as simple and as conformable to nature as his curative meth-
od; and many persons afflicted with all kinds of sufferings
and cacochymies have recovered their health by simply sub-
mitting to the regimen in question.
We would, however, be mistaken if we should suppose
that this dietetics is applicable only in cases of sickness.
No, its general principles are as valuable for healthy men as
for the sick. Among his precepts, one of the most essential
is: “That to enjoy perfect health and to attain a long life, we
must avoid in our victuals and beverages all medicinal Sub-
stances; that is, all productions or liquids capable of altering
* Organon is a Greek word which designates all proper instruments for prac-
g = f wº & g {-
ticing or doing anything. The Organon of the Art of Healing is then for the
medical artist an instrument by the aid of which he is enabled to practice his
art in a sure and perfect manner.
f This work may be had in Paris at Messrs. Treuttel and Wuertz's, and at
Messrs. Bossange Brothers’.
viii PREFACE.
the regular condition of the body and of producing in it
extraordinary changes.
However, the luxury of modern times has introduced
among our enjoyments a quantity of things endowed with
medicinal qualities, and consequently more or less destruc-
tive of health. Long before publishing his Organon, the
learned author placed among the number of his most serious
occupations, to discover the injurious effects of certain pro-
ducts, drinks, and seasonings in general use, and of which
the true qualities were unknown. A long experience, as
well as many pure experiments fully convinced him that
among those dietetic medicinal productions coffee was one
of the most pernicious. The use of this beverage being
general in Germany among all classes of society, and the
evils arising therefrom communicating themselves like a
subtle poison from generation to generation, the author be-
lieved it his duty to publish the results of his observations
in his interesting work, On the AEffects of Coffee, which ap-
peared at Leipzig in the year 1803.”
So far as I am concerned, I had a double purpose in view
in making this translation:
I. That of convincing the physicians of other countries,
who will adopt the new curative method, the necessity of,
interdicting to their patients a habit which forms a direct and
insurmountable obstacle to all homoeopathic cures. We
would wrongfully accuse this excellent procedure of ineffi-
ciency should it be employed in rivalry with such an adver-
sary. The doses of homoeopathic remedies, being exces-
sively small, it is indispensable to remove all heterogeneous
irritations which might trouble or annihilate their activity. i
2. My other object has been to enlighten all reasonable
persons of all nations upon the effects of such an injurious
and pernicious beverage.
* The complete title of the original German is: Der Kaffee in seinen
Wirkungen; nach eignen Beobachtungen von Samuel Hahnemann, der Arz.
Dr. und einiger gelehrten Gesellschaften Mitgliede. Leipzig, 1803, lei C. F.
Steinacker.
f See the summary of the fundamental principles of the Organon, which are
found in my Exposition of the Reform of the Art of Healing, Sec. XVI.
PREFACE. ix
“What! coffee be an injurious and pernicious thing?
What a strange and absurd accusation | Is it not coffee that
fortifies us in the morning to commence our daily task, that
procures us an easy digestion after meals, and aids to keep
up the hours of waking that we may give ourselves up to the
sweets of study? Is it not coffee that makes the charm of
social conversation, that loosens the tongue and dilates the
heart, that gives deep and sublime ideas, and that inflames
our imagination with the fire of poetry? Long live the nec-
tar of Arabia, and may its wicked calumniators perish ſ”
This is the language which I hear from millions of voices
all at once; I am not astonished at it; for I have offended a
happy favorite if ever there was one, the favorite of three
centuries, the favorite of millions of individuals of all ages
and classes of Society
I shall only say in answer: Read the important treatise,
the translation of which I offer you; read it with reflection
and without prejudice, and then judge as may seem good to
you.
I know very well that a number of persons, notwithstand-
ing the reading of this work, will, however, believe nothing
about it, and will say that it is a fiction made at pleasure to
excite the attention by Strange and extravagant assertions.
Such persons, in the first place, will be those who are ex-
tremely robust and vigorous, whose physical energy is so
great that they do not feel the injurious effects of said bever-
age; and, then another class of individuals who, though
afflicted with many sufferings, are, however, so attached to
their customary enjoyments that they can not open their
eyes to the most evident truths.
But, on the other hand, I am also persuaded that a great
many reasonable persons will be struck with the correctness
of the remarks contained in this book, and that they will
recognize in the different evils and symptoms attributed to
coffee the image of existing phenomena and sufferings which
they have observed in themselves or in others. Such reason-
able persons will then seek to rid themselves of this bever-
X PREFACE.
age, and they will not fail to feel the salutary consequences
thereof in a short time.
Tender parents, who love your children, wise tutors to
whom is confided the welfare of your pupils, it is to you
that I direct my address of preference. Do not corrupt the
charming blossoms confided to your care by watering them
with a slow and destructive poison. Preserve them their
moral and physical integrity; you are responsible for them
Listen to the friendly advice of an honest and truthful man,
who, in relation to this subject had himself the most palpa-
ble experience. From my earliest infancy to the age of
twenty-two years I continually took coffee twice a day.
Though I generally took but one cup at a time, and the
quality was not excessively strong, yet it did not fail, how-
ever, to act upon my organism in the most pernicious man-
ner. My health was visibly declining, when the treatise of
Dr. Hahnemann fell into my hands. I found, with a shud-
der, that I myself was suffering from most of the symptoms
designated by this learned doctor as the effects of coffee.
The similarity of my condition to that which I found de-
picted, was too striking for me not to make an attempt to
abandon this beverage. I executed this resolution in less
than three weeks, and its beneficial results did not long fail
to manifest themselves. During six years since I renounced
the use of coffee, my health, though naturally very delicate,
gradually became firmer, and a new life has begun for me.
“But what can we substitute for coffee P” I may be asked.
For coffee taken after dinner, nothing should be substi-
tuted. After having satiated our hunger with victuals, and
quenched our thirst with liquids during the repast, there is
no reasonable motive to give one's self up to new enjoy-.
ments. The so-called digestive quality of coffee rests upon
an erroneous opinion, and it will be seen from the sequel of
this treatise that, on the contrary, it impedes a perfect and
natural digestion.
But so far as the coffee which we take at breakfast is con-
cerned, there are doubtless several innocent beverages which
could replace it. One of the most convenient is pure cacao,
PREFACE. xi
boiled in water or milk, and sweetened with sugar; it offers
a nutritive, innocent, and agreeable beverage at the same
time. It is a prejudice to believe that cacao heats the blood ;
it is only the heterogeneous mixture of seasonings which are
usually found in it, for example, vanilla, cinnamon, etc.,
which renders it heating and injurious. But the bulk of
pure cacao has no irritating quality at all; I have taken it
myself during the six years since I renounced the use of
coffee, and I feel quite well in consequence. This beverage
is now generally recommended by all the physicians who
follow the homoeopathic method. I am also persuaded be-
forehand that all rational physicians in foreign countries,
who will read without prejudice the Organon of the Art of
Healing and the present treatise, and being persuaded of the
truth which they contain, will not hesitate to follow the
same example.
Is it not much better to preserve men from sickness by a
reasonable diet conformable to nature, than to combat exist-
ing evils with artificial evils, without draining the source of
the former? It is true that the physician here finds the live-
liest resistance on the part of patients themselves. Many
persons would rather suffer from time to time the torments
of diseases and violent remedies, than to deprive themselves
forever of a favorite enjoyment; for transient patience is
easier to practice than perpetual resignation. However, the
physician should here be firm and inexorable, and he will
not fail to attain his object, or he will lose an absurd patient
who does not deserve his care.
Let us do good to men even at the risk of displeasing
them. Whoever fights for a good cause should take to heart
nothing but its success, and put aside all personal interest.
THE TRANSLATOR.
DRESDEN, April 30, 1824.
T R E A T IS E
ON
THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
To enjoy perfect health and a long life, we should only
make use of purely nutritive food, free from irritant and
medical particles; our beverages should likewise be only
moistening or both moistening and nutritive, but equally free
from the above mentioned particles, such as pure spring
water or milk.
So far as seasonings which flatter the taste are concerned,
there are but three, common salt, sugar, and vinegar, which,
employed in small or moderate quantities, have been recog-
nized as harmless and fit for the human body. All other in-
gredients which we call spices, as well as all beverages re-
duced to spirits or similar to alcohol, partake more or less of
the nature of medicaments. The more they resemble these
last, and the more frequently and copiously they are intro-
duced into our bodies, the more do they become equivocal
and injurious to our health and opposed to longevity.
It is especially dangerous to make dietetic and frequent
use of purely medicinal substances endowed with great
strength.
Wine was the only purely medicinal beverage of the an-
cients; but the Greeks and Romans, wiser than ourselves,
never partook of it without having first mixed water with it
copiously. Modern times have introduced the use of many
other medicinal beverages and luxuries, such as Smoking to-
I4. TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
bacco and Snuff, brandy, several kinds of irritant beers, tea,
and coffee.*
Medicinal products are substances which do not nourish
our bodies, but alter its state of health; but every such alter-
ation is a condition opposed to nature, that is, a species of
disease. # •r-
COFFEE IS A PURELY MEDICINAL SUBSTANCE.
All medicaments, given in large doses, make a disagree-
able impression on the sensibilities of a healthy person. No
one ever smoked tobacco for the first time without experi-
encing some disgust; no healthy person, with equal certainty,
ever took with pleasure pure and unsweetened coffee for the
first time. It is nature herself that admonishes by this of the
first violation of the laws of health ; it is herself that exhorts
us not to despise trivially the preserving instinct of life.
By continuing the use of these medicinal products (a usage
to which we are enslaved by fashion and the force of ex-
ample), the habit, by degrees, dispels the disagreeable sen-
sations which they at first produce in us. These things
finally please us, that is, the disgust which they at first
caused us becomes less striking by their continued use, and,
on the contrary, the agreeable effects which they ap-
parently produce upon our organs insensibly become neces-
sities. The vulgar man seems to find happiness in artificial
necessaries, and by degrees attaches to their satisfaction a
sensual pleasure.
* Chocolate is among the number of nutritive aliments, unless it be over-
seasoned with too many spices, for it then becomes dangerous and even very
injurious. I pass over in 'silence the swallowing of opium, so common in the
East, the mastication of flax and tobacco, etc.
f The substances which are called medicaments, and which, on the one
hand, exercise a morbific influence on a healthy organism, have, on the other
hand, the quality of annihilating the irregular and dangerous state of the body
which we call disease, that is, to transform it into a state of health. Em-
ployed, except in cases of sickness, they are things quite injurious to health
and opposed to a natural regimen of life. Their frequent and dietetic use dis-
turbs the harmonious accord of our organs, undermines our health, and
abridges life. A beneficial medicament for a healthy person is a self-contra-
dictory assertion.
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. I 5
Having once become sick, as it were, by the continual use
of these medicinal products, it may be, too, that our instinct
requires them as palliatives, to assuage, at least momentarily,
the evils which they produce themselves from time to time.
That they may understand this better, I beg my readers to
pay attention to the following remarks.
All medicaments produce two quite opposite states in the
human body: the primitive effect which manifests itself when
the remedy begins to operate, and the secondary effect which
appears only after the lapse of several hours, when the primi-
tive effect has ceased.* Most medicaments cause disagree-
able and painful sensations to a healthy person, as well in
their primitive as in their secondary effects; both cause
trouble in the organism, though in a different manner, and
even a continued use of these objects will never produce
agreeable effects in a healthy man. There are but few of the
medicinal substances, chosen by a refined and pleasure-seek-
ing world as dietetic objects, i that, so far as their primitive
effects are concerned, form an exception to the above men-
tioned rule. They have, then, the remarkable virtue of pro-
ducing a species of artificial augmentation of the Ordinary
state of health, and of exciting almost none but agreeable
sensations, while the disagreeable results of the secondary
effects remain insignificant for some time, supposing, at all
events, that the person in question makes a moderate use of
above named substances, that he enjoys pretty good health,
and that in other respects, he leads a life conformable to
nature. Î
Among that small class of medicinal products forcibly re-
ceived among the number of our dietetic luxuries, coffee is
also found, the effects of which, agreeable as well as disagree-
able, are still considerably unknown.
The inordinate use of this beverage at almost all hours of
* It may be that jalap will purge to-day, but to-morrow and day after to-
morrow a constipation will follow.
f It may be wine, brandy, tobacco, tea, coffee, &c.
f Note of the translator. For in the opposite case the injurious effects are
much more marked, and manifest themselves after a very short interval.
I6 TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
the day, the difference in its quality and quantity, finally its
general use in all classes of society, of all ages and of the most
varied constitutions, make 1ſt very difficult for the observer to
abstract the true effects of coffee from this chaos of phenom-
ena, and to deduce therefrom pure and certain results. It is
like a writing attached to a swiftly revolving target; however
distinct the characters and words may be in themselves,
everything becomes confounded and illegible even to the
best eyes.
It is only by continued, exact, and sincere observations,
removed as far as possible from all illusions; it is only by
carefully referring the phenomena to their causes, that one
can succeed in discovering the nature of the most important
of beverages, that of coffee.
The primitive effect of coffee consists, in general, of an in-
crease more or less agreeable of vital activity; the animal
functions, natural and vital (as they are called), are found
during the first hours in a state of artificial perfection. But
the secondary effects, which manifest themselves only insen-
sibly after the lapse of several hours, produce exactly the
contrary of all this, that is, a disagreeable sentiment of our
existence, an oppressed activity, a species of paralysis of the
animal, natural, and vital functions.”
If any one not accustomed to coffee should take a moderate
portion of it, or if some one who is accustomed to this bev-
erage should take an immoderate portion of it, f he will ex-
* “When I awake in the morning,” wrote an accomplished female coffee
drinker of high parage, “I neither think nor act more than an oyster.”
f The terms moderate and immoderate are relative, and should be understood
according to the individual cases, for it is here impossible to fix definite num-
bers or quantities. A Prince reared in luxury, the Duke C. of C., now dead,
needed for his daily portion an infusion of 14 Loths of roasted coffee grains,
while some others are found to be strongly affected with only one-fourth of a
Loth. [The Loth is a kind of German weight which designates the thirty-
second part of a pound.—TRANSLATOR.] Each one must here apply the meas-
ure which is particularly suited to his body, for one can bear more than
another. I further remark that all the symptoms of the primitive effect of
coffee do not appear simultaneously, and that their totality does not manifest
itself in each individual. The one will experience a certain portion of these
symptoms, another some other portion. The one will present a great number,
while the other will offer but few.
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. 17
perience during the first hours a more active sentiment of his
existence; the pulse is higher and more frequent, but also
softer. His cheeks assume a circumscribed redness which
does not insensibly vanish in the adjacent parts, but presents
itself apart like a red spot. The forehead and the palms be-
come humid ; he feels more heat than before, and this sen-
sation causes him an agreeable uneasiness. The heart is agi- a
tated in a voluptuous palpitation, as it is on Occasions of great
joy; the veins of the hands swell. By touching him exter-
nally one also observes a supernatural heat; however, this
heat never becomes ardent, even after taking a large portion
of coffee, but it rather passes into a general sweat.
The presence of mind, the attention, the sympathies are
more active than in the regular and natural condition of the
body. It seems to the person in question that all the objects
which surround him have received a seducing appearance;
everything seems to be covered with a gay varnish and shines
with an infinitely agreeable luster, especially if the portion of
coffee has been greater than usual.”
During the first hours one sees on the lips of the coffee
drinker self-complacency and a satisfaction with everything
that surrounds him; and this is just what elevated coffee to
the rank of a social beverage. Every agreeable sentiment,
which is communicated to one's self, rises rapidly to the de-
gree of enthusiasm (though but for a short time). All vexa-
tious recollections are effaced from the memory; all disagree-
able sensations are silenced during this species of enchanting
fever.
* However, if the portion were excessively large, and the body should be
singularly irritable and wholly unaccustomed to coffee, a unilateral headache
would follow, which descends from the superior part of the parietal bone down
to the cavity of the brain. The meninges of that side are also painfully sensi-
tive. The hands and the feet become cold, and a cold sweat issues from the
forehead and the palms. The humor of the person in question passes into a
state of hyperaesthesia; he is angered and vexed; no one can please him. He
is timid and trembles continually; he is uneasy; weeps without scarcely any
cause, or smiles almost involuntarily. After a few hours he falls into a light
sleep, and at intervals awakes by starts. I have twice observed this rare and
singular condition.
2
I8 TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
Man, in a regular and healthy condition, should experience
agreeable and disagreeable sensations alternately; the wise
organization of our nature demands this. But during the
primitive effects of this medicinal beverage all is but pleasure,
and even the corporal functions, which, in a natural state of
health, are accompanied by rude and almost painful sensa-
...tions, now operate with an astonishing facility and even with
a species of pleasure.
Whoever no longer lives in the primeval simplicity of na-
ture will well experience, during the first moments after
awakening (especially when it has taken place earlier than
usual), a certain physical and mental dullness; the sentiment
of existence will be less active, the head heavy, the limbs
somewhat dull and less agile than usual ; rapid movements
require efforts, and thought is sluggish.
But coffee almost instantaneously dispels this disagreeable
and natural sensation, this uneasiness of body and mind; we
suddenly revive.
Having finished our daily task, nature also desires us to be
fatigued; a disagreeable sensation of languor in our physical
and natural forces now renders us morose and obliges us to
give ourselves up to necessary sleep and repose. But let us
take coffee, and this state of moroseness and inactivity, this
disagreeable lassitude of body and mind, will suddenly disap-
pear; an artificial vivacity will succeed the desire of sleeping,
and we wake in spite of nature.
In order to live we need food, and nature obliges us to
seek it through hunger, a gnawing sensation in the stomach,
joined to a tormenting desire for food, to a quarrelsome
humor, to debilitation, etc. In like manner thirst, an equally
wise institution of nature, is a very inconvenient sensation:
for; besides a languishing desire for liquids, which our bodies
need to repair their losses, we experience also a parching
dryness in the throat and mouth, a dry heat of the body
which somewhat hinders respiration, a certain uneasiness, etc.
We take coffee—and we feel nothing more of the painful
sensations of hunger and thirst. Real coffee drinkers are al-
most ignorant of natural hunger and thirst; this is especially
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. I9
the case with women who take no exercise in the open air,
which deprives them of an advantage which annihilates, at
least from time to time, the vexatious consequences of this
beverage. The body is thus cheated out of its food and
drink by a sort of illusion, and the cutaneous vessels are, at
the same time, forced, in a manner contrary to nature, to ab-
Sorb from the air as much moisture as the organism abso-
lutely needs for its existence. This is the reason that pro-
fessional coffee drinkers discharge much more liquid through
the urinary duct than they have actually swallowed. It is
thus that we refuse the body the enjoyment of its prime
necessities; it is thus, thanks to the divine beverage, that we
insensibly approach the state of the blessed. What a beauti-
ful foretaste of transfiguration in this world below !
The Supreme Preserver of our days also ordained that, after
satiating ourselves with food, a short interruption should in-
tervene in our affairs, and that we should give a little rest to
our bodies and minds, that the important functiºn of diges-
tion might quietly begin. . The disagreeable s asations which
arise from pursuing an opposite course should induce us not
to violate said law. Wishing to make physical efforts im-
mediately after meals, a certain stupor of body and mind, an
or pressive weight in the region of the stomach, a sort of dis-
agreeable compression of plenitude and tension in the abdo-
men, etc., remind us that the time to taste repose is at hand.
In like manner, if we wish to make mental efforts, a dullness
of the intellectual forces follows immediately, the head be-
comes dull, the limbs are cold, while the face is warm, and
a disagreeable compression of the stomach, joined to an incon-
venient tension of the abdomen, still increases. For it is but
too certain that the efforts of the mind, made when digestion
begins, are still mere opposed to nature and more pernicious
than physical labor.
But coffee rapidly banishes this lassitude of body and mind,
as well as the inconvenient sensations in the abdomen. This
is the reason that refined sybarites take this beverage imme-
diately after meals, and they fully enjoy the above mentioned
2O TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
effects. They recover their good humor and feel as light as
if their stomachs contained but little or nothing at all.
Nature also desires that the evacuation of the excrement
should be made with a certain effort, and she forces us to it
by pains and very inconvenient necessities which suppress
all agreeable sentiments of life until the necessary function is
in operation. But the refining spirit of this century has also
provided for this inconvenience and has also sought to elude
this natural law. It is coffee that accelerates and aids the
work of digestion in an artificial manner, which, in the ordi-
nary Order of things, would only take place in the course of
several hours. For the intestines, being excited by the
primitive effect of this beverage, have a more rapid peristaltic
movement: they convey their contents more promptly toward
the anus. But as the aliments can not be sufficiently digested
in so short a time, and as the chyle can not be sufficiently
modified in the stomach, nor sufficiently absorbed by the ab-
sorbents of the intestinal canal, the mollified mass passes
through the intestines so that the body does not receive one
half of its nourishing particles, and reaches the orifice still in
a semi-fluid state. Oh, the excellent digester! Oh, the admir-
able method of correcting nature | The primitive effect of
coffee also incites the anus to open and close more rapidly
during the evacuation, so that the same takes place almost
without effort and more frequently than among those who do
not take this beverage.
It is thus that coffee diminishes and almost annihilates the
disagreeable sensations analogous to the wise organization of
our bodies, so that we do not perceive, nor even suspect, the
sad consequences which result therefrom.
The primitive effect of this beverage, more than all other
artificial means, also excites the sexual instinct, which the
refinement of our age has placed in the rank of principal
pleasures. On the least occasions voluptuous images present
themselves to the mind, the genitals are excited in a few mo-
ments even to erection, and the effusion of semen is almost
irresistible. Coffee awakens the sexual instinct ten or fifteen
years too soon, before the age of puberty, and in the most
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. 2 I
tender youth of both sexes, a refinement * which hastens the
time of impotence, and exercises the most evident influence
On morals and morality.
The effects of coffee, of which I have spoken up to this
point, exhibit themselves in a light still more striking among
persons of an extremely irritable temperament, or who have
already become enervated by the frequent use of coffee and
by a sedentary life. The simple and honest man, in consid-
ering the moral and physical condition of those persons, rec-
Ognizes therein everywhere the opposite of nature, and the
stamp of an irregular excitement. He observes an exager-
ated gaity or sentimentality which far exceeds the nature of
its object, a tenderness almost convulsive or an extreme Sad-
ness, or sallies which surpass the limits of reason, or contor-
tions of the muscles of the face, which degenerate into true
caricatures, instead of a mild smile, a little irony, a moderate
affliction or compassion. Even the muscles of the remainder
of the body now.exhibit an extraordinary mobility contrary
to nature; all is life and activity during the first hours of the
effect of strong coffee, or, to make use of the customary ex-
pression, of good coffee. The most varied ideas and images
present themselves in great number, and succeed one another
rapidly before the throne of thought and sensibility. It is a
life artificially doubled, artificially exalted
Man in his natural state must make some effort to recollect
things long since passed; but immediately after taking coffee
the memory's magazine spreads itself, so to speak, upon the
tongue—and imprudent chit-chat and the revelation of im-
portant secrets are but too often the result.
Moderation and just bounds are everywhere exceeded.
The serious reflections of our ancestors, the solidity of judg-
ment, firmness of will and resolution, the perseverance of the
body in executing its slow but energetic movements, all
* “Pleasures pleasures 1’’ Thus the men of our days exclaim. They desire
to enjoy life promptly and without interruption, even at the expense of all
other interests Now, they accomplish their purpose pretty well by means Cf
this marvelous beverage, which, at once, reanimates and destroys the vital
forces.
22 TREATISE ON 'I'HE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
these qualities which formerly distinguished the national
character of the Germans vanish before this medicinal bev-
erage. And by what are they replaced 2 Imprudent effu-
sions of the heart, precipitate and ill-founded resolutions and
judgments, levity, loquacity, and vacillation, finally a fugitive
and non-energetic mobility of the muscles, and a theatrical
countenance.* *
I well know that to abound in luxuriant imaginations, to
compose lascivious romances, and to make flippant, jocular,
and pointed poems, the German must drink coffee. The
ballet dancer, the improvisator, the juggler, the boatman, the
banker of a Pharoah bank, the modern virtuoso-physician
with his extraordinary rapidity, and the fashionably omni-
present physician who wishes to make ninety visits in a
Single morning—all these people necessarily need coffee.
Let us abandon to these people their excitants opposed to
nature, with all the vexatious consequences which result
therefrom for their own health and for the good of others.
But it is certain that the most refined sybarite and the most
consummate spendthrift of life, could not have found in the
world any medicinal dietetic more suitable than coffeef for
changing all his ordinary sensations into agreeable sensations
for a few hours. What could, like it, spread over our humor
a serene and even impetuous joy, cause our spirit to gush
forth in sallies, and inflame our imaginations with a fire ex-
ceeding our temperament? What could thus accelerate the
movement of our muscles to a trembling point, double the
slow march of our digestive and secretory organs, and main-
Who knows what dietetic enervation was the cause that the prodigies of
the heroic virtues of patriotism, of filial love, of inviolable fidelity, of unwav-
er.ng integrity and zeal for duty, acknowledged attributes of our antiquity,
have dwindled away to a petty egotism . It is true that we do not see any
more of those heroic crimes, evidences of physical and mental vigor, such as
were committed in the middle ages and in more remote antiquity; but, in ex-
change, we are surrounded by myriads of individuals, making profession of
cunning, intrigues, of well-guarded frauds and deceptions of all kinds which
threaten an honest man at every step. Which then of the two is best, a single
bomb, or a million invisible caltrops ?
f And in certain cases tea.
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. 23
tain the sexual instinct in a state of excitement almost invol-
untary ! Finally, what could, like it, banish the torments of
hunger and thirst, remove sleep from fatigued members, and
produce an artificial wakefulness, while the entire creation of
our hemisphere are tasting the sweets of repose in the quiet
shades of night ! $
It is thus that we conquer the wise institutions of nature,
but to our great detriment.
After a few hours, the primitive effect of the coffee being
passed, an opposite State, the Secondary effect, insensibly
follows. The more the former has been marked and agree-
able, the more will the latter be sensitive and disagreeable.
I shall, however, state beforehand that the noxious conse-
quences of this medicinal beverage are not similar for each
individual. e
Our bodies have such an excellent organization that a few
faults against diet become almost imperceptible, if in other
respects we lead a life conformable to nature. In this way,
for example, the peasant and the journeyman in Germany
take brandy, a very injurious beverage in itself, almost every
morning; but if they take it in small quantities they, never-
theless, reach a very advanced age. Their health suffers but
little from it, for their good constitutions and the healthy
mode of life which they lead in other respects, overcome the
injurious effects of this beverage to such an extent that they
suffer very little from it.
If the father of a poor family of journeymen or peasants
takes a few cups of weak coffee instead of brandy, the result
will be the same. The vigor of his body, the violent exer-
cise which he gives his limbs, the pure air which he inhales
every day in abundance, all this removes the sad conse-
quences of the beverage in question, and his health suffers
but little or not at all.
But the noxious effects of coffee become much more evi-
dent among those persons who do not enjoy the advantages
of the above-mentioned favorable circumstances.
It is true that some persons spending their time in seden-
tary occupations, and even some men of a feeble complexion,
24 TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
fixed for the most part to their rooms by sedentary pursuits,
enjoy a sort of health, provided they observe in other things
a regimen suitable to their situation. This regimen requires
that we take none but simple aliments, easily digested, purely
nutritive, mild, and little seasoned, as well as beverages
equally innocent; that much sobriety be exercised in the use
of said enjoyments; that the air of apartments be frequently
renewed; finally, that all passions be moderated with wisdom.
Upon these conditions women who take but little exercise,
and even prisoners, may also enjoy a species of health which,
though easily disturbed by exterior accidents, however fur-
nishes a degree of relative well being. It is upon such per-
sons that the effects of all morbific substances, that is to say,
of all medicaments, will be more pointed and greater than
upon robust men accustomed to labor in the open air, who
can bear pretty noxious things without suffering any consid-
erable injury.
Those feeble recluses whose health is at such a low degree
enjoy, so to speak, but one ‘half of life. Their sensations,
their vital functions, their activity, all these have no true
energy. It is not astonishing, then, that they should take
with avidity such a beverage as coffee, which for several
hours exalts the sentiment of their existence so powerfully;
they care but little for the evil consequences and the second-
ary effects.
This secondary effect is similar to the uneasy state in
which they find themselves before taking coffee, but it is a
little more severe.
The primary effect of this medicinal beverage, that is, the
totality of this vital, exalted, and artificial activity having
disappeared after a few hours, a desire to sleep, joined to
yawnings and a greater inactivity than that of the ordinary
condition, insensibly follow; the motions of the body become
more difficult, and the extreme serenity which reigned in the
mind during the few preceding hours now passes into a
gloomy, downcast humor. While the digestion and secre-
tion of the aliments had been artificially accelerated during
the first hours after taking coffee, painful flatulency and a
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. 25
slower and more difficult secretion now follow than in the
preceding condition. If the persons in question had been
penetrated with an agreeable heat by the primary effect of
the coffee, this artificial fire now becomes insensibly quenched;
they become chilled and have cold hands and feet. All ex-
ternal objects appear to them less agreeable than before.
The sexual desires, excited during the first hours, now be-
come the more feeble and lax. Their bad humor increases,
and they are more easily vexed. The natural appetite is
replaced by a kind of canine appetite, easily satisfied, and
yet food and beverages load their heads and stomachs more.
They have more difficulty to recover sleep, which is more
feeble, and on awaking they are more sleepy, more sad and
melancholic, than they usually were before they become ac-
quainted with coffee.
But they repeat the use of this injurious palliative, and,
behold ! all the pains of which I have spoken are dissipated
A new artificial life begins, with the only difference that the
happy period this time is a little shorter than the first. The
use of coffee must then be more frequently repeated, or it
must be made stronger and stronger, if it is to excite anew
the vital functions for a few hours.
It is thus that the bodies of the inhabitants of chambers
continually degenerate more. The injuries caused by the
secondary effects of coffee enlarge and take such deep roots
that even more frequent and stronger repetitions of this pal-
liative can no longer dissipate them, not even for a few
hours.
The skin now becomes more sensitive to cold, and, in
general, to the influence of much air, even when it is not
cold; digestion becomes more difficult, the evacuations are
often delayed several days; flatulence causes agonies and a
number of painful sensations. The constipation of the ab-
domen alternates only with diarrhoeas, and not with natural
stools. Sleep comes only with difficulty, and rather resem-
bles a slight sluggishness which does not refresh. On awak-
ing, the persons in question have the head much engaged, a
drowsy imagination, and a sluggish memory; the movement
26 TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
of the limbs is much constrained, and their hearts are filled
with an oppressive sadness, which darkens the aspect of the
beautiful nature which surrounds them. The beautiful emo-
tions, such as the love of humanity, gratitude, pity, heroism,
force and nobleness of soul, as well as serenity and gaity of
spirit, are metamorphosed into timidity, indifference, apa-
thetic hardness, fickleness, and moroseness.
The use of coffee is continued. Sentimental affectations
always alternate with insensibility, precipitate resolutions
with irresolution, fits of anger with a loose condescension,
grimaces of friendship with jealousies and hidden malice,
transient exaltations with sadness, scoffings with weeping
miens—in a word, caprices follow caprices, and attest the
continual vacillations of the body and mind between a state
of irritation and a state of relaxation.
It would be difficult for me to describe all the evils which
lurk among the generation of coffee bibbers, under the name
of debility, or that of nervous or chronic diseases, evils which
enervate humanity and cause it to degenerate in body and
spirit.
We must not, however, think that all lovers of coffee are
affected in the same degree by each of the injurious effects
of which I have just spoken. No, doubtless one will suffer
more from a certain symptom of the secondary effect of this
beverage, another will suffer more from some other. My
painting embraces the whole race of coffee bibbers; I here
collect in a single frame all the evils, derived from this source,
which have successively fallen under my observation.
The agreeable, but palliative, sensation which coffee dif-
fuses, even among the minutest fibres for a few hours, after-
wards causes, as a secondary effect, an extreme inclination to
painful sensations, an inclination which increases in propor-
tion as the coffee has been taken longer, more frequently, of
a stronger quality, or in larger quantities. Even trivial
causes (which scarcely make any impression at all on healthy
men unaccustomed to the use of coffee) cause a headache to
the female coffee drinker; often also toothache almost unen-
durable, and generally nocturnal, accompanied by redness of
the face, and finally producing swelling of the cheeks; some-
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. 27
times also tearing and cutting sensations in different parts of
the body, now in a single side of the face, then in this or
that member. *
The body becomes very much inclined to erysipelas, either
manifesting itself in the thigh (which often causes chronic
ulcers in the legs), or taking place in the breasts (which
sometimes occurs while nursing children), or, finally, it may
make its appearance in one side of the face. Anguish and
flying sensations of heat are their daily ailments, and uni-
lateral and nervous headache are theirs by preference. i.
* This tearing sensation in the members, excited by the continual use of
coffee, is not felt in the articulations themselves, but from one articulation to
the other. The pain seems rather to be in the muscles or in the cellular mem-
brane than in the bones. The members in questior are not swollen or other-
wise altered exteriorly, and scarcely experience any pain when touched. The
nosologies do not know this singular affection.
† We should not here confound the headache which I have before mentioned.
This comes only on certain occasions, perhaps after having had trouble, or
after having overloaded the stomach, or after a cold, and makes its appear-
ance, in general, suddenly and at any time. But the unilateral and nervous
headache, of which I speak at present, comes in the morning, soon after
waking, or even at waking, and increases insensibly. The pain is almost
unendurable and often burning; the cuticle is very sensitive, and the least
touch causes pain. Generally the mind and body of those persons are found
to be in a state of excessive irritability. Having a feeble and downcast ap-
pearance, they shun society and even the light of day, and seek a solitary and
obscure place, where they give themselves up to a kind of waking sleep,
having their eyes closed and remaining immovable, elevated obliquely upon a
couch, or in an arm-chair. Every movement, each noise increases their suffer-
ings; they avoid speaking themselves and hearing others speak. The body,
without shivering, is still colder than usual; especially the hands and feet are
very cold. Everything is odious to them, and chiefly aliments and beverages,
for continual nauseas prevent their taking anything. If the paroxysm is very
severe these nauseas cause vomiting of mucus, but the headache is rarely ap-
peased thereby. Neither does the patient have evacuations. This headache
never ceases before night, and in very stubborn cases I have seen it last thirty-
six hours, so that it only left on the evening of the following day. If the
attack is less violent, the prime cause of this evil, that is, strong coffee,
abridges its duration in a palliative manner; but the body becomes so much
more inclined to reproduce it after the lapse of a shorter interval. The period
of the return of this evil is indefinite; it may be within fifteen days, or three
weeks, or four weeks, etc. It appears suddenly without any proximate cause;
even during the preceding night the patient rarely feels the slight indications
of the nervous headache which awaits him on the morrow morning. I have
never observed this singular condition except among real coffee bibbers.
28 TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
Little infractions of regimen, as well as vexatious passions,
Cause them painful sufferings of the chest, stomach, and ab-
domen, known under the false denomination of cramps. The
menses never take place without pain, and do not occur at
their regular periods, or else they are less copious than usual,
and finally they become quite trifling in quantity; the blood
itself appears aqueous and slimy; the leucorrhea (generally
of an acrid and pungent nature) continues to flow almost from
moon to moon, or entirely replace the flux of blood. The
act of Coition sometimes causes pains. An éarthy, yellow-
ish, or very pale color, languishing eyes surrounded by a
bluish circle, pale lips, a soft flesh, flabby and pendant
breasts, are the exterior signs of the miserable condition of
the internal organism. The scanty menses sometimes alter-
nate with strong hemorrhages of the womb. Men suffer
from painful hemorrhoidal difficulties, and nocturnal pollu-
tions. The genital faculty insensibly dies away in both
sexes. The natural energy which a healthy couple exercise
in the act of coition is reduced to a futile result. Men be-
come impotent, women sterile or incapable of suckling their
children. It is behind the coffee-table that the hollow-eyed
phantom, masturbation, that execration of nature, chiefly
hides itself! (However, the reading of passionate and las-
civious novels, bad company, excessive efforts of memory,
and the inactivity of a sedentary life in the corrupt air of
rooms, also contribute their share in the producing this hid-
eous evil.)
The secondary effect of the frequent use of coffee produc-
ing in the body an eminent disposition for all sorts of dis-
agreeable sensations and the most piercing pains, it will be
easy to conceive how it is more proper than any other inju-
rious substance to excite a strong inclination for caries. No
irregularity of diet occasions more easily and more certainly
the decay of the teeth than the coffee debauch. Coffee,
grief, and the abuse of mercury, are the most active destroy-
ers of this ornament of the mouth, this necessary organ of
distinct language and of an intimate amalgamation of the
saliva and the food. The confined air of chambers and the
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. 29
nocturnal repletion of the stomach also contribute thereto.
But coffee alone is capable of destroying the teeth in a very
short time, or, at least, to make them black and yellow.
The incisors are especially attacked by it.
With the exception of the real spina-ventosa, scarcely any
other caries among children are produced by any other cause
than coffee, * unless they have been maltreated with mer-
Curial cures. It also sometimes engenders among them deep-
'seated ulcers, which pierce very slowly and have very narrow
Openings.
In general, coffee exercises the most pernicious influence
Over children, which is greater as they are more delicate.
Although it does not, of its own propensity, excite the real
rachitis (English disease, a knotting of the limbs), it however
accelerates this disease conjointly with its peculiar producing
causes, that is, non-fermented vegetable food and the con-
fined, damp air of rooms. But it also alone engenders
among little children, who, on the other hand, enjoy healthy
food and pure air, a certain phthisis, almost as sad as rachitis
itself. Children subject to said phthisis have a pallid com-
plexion and very flabby flesh. They are a long time learning
to walk; their walk is tottering, they easily fall, and always
want to be carried. They have a stammering voice. They
ask much and many things, and yet eat and drink but little.
The native simplicity, the gaity, and playfulness which form
the amiable character of infancy, are replaced by a mean
prostration. Nothing gives pleasure to these little unfortu-
nates, nothing satisfies them; all they do denotes but half a
life; they are very timid and are easily frightened. Diar-
rhoeas alternate with constipations. Their respiration is rat-
tling, especially in sleep, for their chest is always filled with
a tenacious mucus, which no cough will detach; they always
have the chest engaged, as it is generally expressed. Den-
* Such caries, produced by coffee, causes ulcers of the bones, hidden under
elevated cutaneous tumors which are hard and of a bluish red color. From
these ulcers a slimy matter, mingled with caseous particles and having but a
faint odor, oozes. The pains of the affected parts are piercing. The remainder
of the body presents a real image of phthisis produced by coffee.
3O TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
tition takes place with difficulty and causes suffering, even
convulsions; nevertheless, the teeth are imperfect and decay
before the time for their change has arrived. In the even-
ing, some time before the hour of retiring, or even at bed
time, one or both of their cheeks generally redden and be-
come heated. During the night their sleep is disturbed, they
are much agitated, and often ask for drink; they transpire,
not only on the forehead, but also on the head, and, above
all, in the back part of the head. They also cry sometimes
during sleep. It is only with difficulty that they overcome
all illness, and their convalescence is always imperfect. They
are often subject to a chronic inflammation of the eyes, joined
to a singular relaxation of the upper eyelids, which does not
permit them to open their eyes, even when the redness and
swelling of the lids are only moderate. This species of
ophthalmy sometimes lasts several years; children who suffer
from it are continually sad and inclined to weep; they often
sleep on their faces, or they hide themselves in the dark and
remain there, lying down or sitting in a stooping position.
Said inflammation chiefly attacks the cornea, covering it at
first with red veins, and finally with dark spots, or causing
little pimples or ulcers to appear, which sometimes enter
deep into the cornea, even threatening the loss of the sight.
This ophthalmy and this rattling of the chest, as well as
some other of the above-mentioned sufferings, even affect
sucklings that take nothing but their mother's milk when
she takes much coffee and keeps herself shut up in the air of
rooms. What must be the strength of this medicinal bever-
age if the suckling is already compelled to suffer from it?
After children, coffee, as I have said, has the most injurious
influence over women and literary persons, for the Occupa-
tions of both oblige them to follow a sedentary life in the air
of chambers. Those artisans whose trade is sedentary are
joined to these two classes of persons.
It is certain, as has been stated above, that much exercise
and an energetic activity in the open air are the best means
to attenuate the injurious effects of coffee; however, they do
not suffice in the end.
TREATISE ON THE EIFFECTS OF COFFEE. 3 I
Some persons also, as if driven by instinct, find a sort of
antidote against coffee in spirituous drinks. Neither can it
be denied that these last produce some reactive effects.
However, they are in themselves new irritants, containing no
nourishing juices at all, or, in other terms, they are also
medicinal substances, which, being taken each day, cause
inconveniences of another character, without being able to
annul the injurious qualities of coffee. We, therefore, gain
nothing by this but new artificial pleasures which likewise
abridge life and have equal sufferings as consequences, though
of a different nature and still more complicated.
The principal means for curing sufferings caused by coffee
is to discontinue its use;” the exercise taken in the open air
will accomplish the rest.
* It is not so very easy to abolish a strong habit of using coffee, especially
among delicate persons. This is the process which I observe in legal d to it.
In the first place I endeavor to persuade my patients of the ulgent necessity
of getting lid of the habit in question. Now, truths which ale founded upon
evident experience ral ely fail to attend the end of conviction, especially when
coming ſi on the lips of an affectionate physician, certain of his good cause
and filled with the reality of his assentions. Nothing will plevent its pene-
trating into the spirit of the audifor; a plivate interest on the palt of the con-
vertel is not to be imagined ; the entire gain is on the side of the converted.
This end being ti uly attained (a thing which a judge of human nature can
see in every mien of the patient), every three or four days the accustomed
portion of said person should be reduced by one cup until he takes only a
Single one for his bleakfast, which he should be permitted to take still for a
week. Then he should be made to give up this last cup suddenly, ol he
might be permitted to take it yet a week alternately flom one day to another,
as circumstances may require. -
If one has to do with persons in whom one can confide, the whole work will
be done in four weeks. But in case the feebleness and vacillation Incident to
the slaves of coffee should be opposed to the project in question, or if the de-
bilitated health of the patient should be too sensitive to such a plivation, it
would be well to substitute a cup of tea for each cup of coffee retrenched, so
that at the end of a week nothing will be left him but the tea, a beverage still
injurious, but still less injulious. Now, tea not being taken as a bevel age of
a long contracted habit; the patient will more easily quit its use, and, finally,
instead of all coffee and tea, he will take some cups of warm milk fol his
breakfast. [Chocolate, flee from all heterogeneous mixtures, ol, in other
words, pure cacao, is equally admissible, as has been seen above. See the
preface again.—TRANSLATOR.]
To annihilate the injurious effects of coffee effectually and to maintain the
32 TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE.
But if the body and mind are in a state of too great decrepi-
tude recourse must be had to certain sanitary medicaments
which exist for such cases, but which I shall not mention here,
this book not being destined for physicians, but for laymen.
Convinced by the results of a long experience and by the
Observations of very many years, I have just depicted the
daily use of coffee as very injurious, and as the surest means
of relaxing and attenuating Our physical and moral energies.
But I have ascribed to it the qualities of a medicinal bever-
age; this might give rise to objections. “Medicaments are
Salutary things!” I may be told. Yes, they are; but only in
an indispensable condition; that is, that it be suitable to the
Case in question. But no medicament whatever can be suit-
able to a regular and natural state of health; it is contrary to
reason and injurious, that a man being in this state should
Select for his usual beverage a medicinal substance.
I appreciate the medicinal virtues of coffee as much as
those of any other medicament, in case it be applied in
proper cases. Nothing which has been created by divine
power can be useless; all its productions are to contribute to
the welfare of men, especially very efficacious products, such
as coffee. But strict attention should be given to the follow-
ing observations.
Every medicament produces in the body of a healthy
man some specific changes, which properly belong to it. If
we are acquainted with these changes, and if we employ the
medicament in cases of sickness which have almost a perfect
resemblance to the symptoms which the medicament can
alone produce in a healthy body, a radical cure will follow.
This application of remedies is the curative application, and
constancy of him who deprives himself of it, it is further indispensable to
fortify his body by daily walks in the open air, to enliven his spirits by inno-
cent amusements, and restore his strength with nourishing and suitable
aliments.
Finally, if this has all been executed in the best manner possible, the physi-
cian or some other fliend of the patient would, nevertheless, do well to inform
himself from time to time of the reality of his conversion, and lift up his
courage, if the ſorce of the example which society gives shakes his resolution.
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE. 33
it is the only one admissible in chronic diseases or diseases of
long standing.
This power of a medicament to modify in a particular
manner the state of the human body, I call the primitive
effect of the remedy. This primitive effect, after a few or
several hours, is replaced by an entirely opposite effect,
which dominates the body after the primary effect of the
remedy has ceased to operate. This second state, I call the
secondary effect of the remedy.
Now, if the medicament which is used for a disease excites
in its primary effects symptoms opposed to those of the dis-
ease in question, the cure is only palliative. An improve-
ment follows almost immediately, but after a few or several
hours have elapsed, the sickness returns and rises to a higher
degree than it had attained before the use of the remedy, for
it is re-enforced by the secondary effect of the medicament
which resembles it. This method of curing is, therefore,
very absurd, if we wish to apply it to diseases of long stand-
ing.
For example, the juice of poppy in making its primary
effect upon a healthy body excites a relaxing sleep, accom-
panied by rattling in the throat; but its secondary effect is
sleeplessness. Now, if the physician is irrational enough to
seek to combat an habitual sleeplessness with the juice of
poppy, he proceeds in a palliative manner. A stupefying,
rattling, and non-strengthening sleep will soon follow the
remedy, but the secondary effect will be sleeplessness and
consequently an aggravation of the existing evil. After
twenty-four hours the patient will sleep still less than before
the use of the opium, unless the dose be reiterated and in-
creased; the secondary effect of the latter will still more ag-
gravate the evil in question and a cure will never follow.
In the same way coffee produces only palliative and appa-
rent alleviations, when applied as a remedy according to the
principle of antithesis; for example, against chronic consti-
pations, arising from inactivity of the intestinal canal, which
is the ordinary case with persons of sedentary habits. The
primary effect of coffee is the opposite of this state; now,
3
34 TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE,
being employed for the first time or seldom in such cases, it
will not fail to operate an evacuation very quickly. But on
the following days the secondary effect of this beverage will
increase the obstructions so much the more. If we should
desire to banish them anew in a palliative manner with coffee,
it would then already be necessary to cause a greater or
stronger portion to be taken. However, the chronic consti-
pation would not be cured by it, for the secondary effect of
the coffee would cause it to reappear anew, and thus each
reiteration of a more copious or a stronger dose would only
aggravate the evil in question and render it more obstinate.
It will be found that the so-called beneficial effects which
coffee drinkers attribute to this beverage, to justify their
habit, are nearly all reducible to palliative reliefs against
certain sufferings. Now, the continual use of a palliative
medicament being a very injurious thing, the daily and die-
tetic use of such a thing is, without contradiction, the most
pernicious of all.
If I esteem the virtues of coffee, I do so only in relation to
its medicinal employment. This enjoyment consists:
I. In the properly curative application of this substance
against chronic diseases, the symptoms of which have a great
resemblance to the primary effects of coffee.*
2. In its palliative application against evils recently en-
gendered, which are eminently dangerous, and which re-
semble very much the secondary effects of this remedy.”
*It may be that some one unaccustomed to coffee suffers from a disease
composed of the following symptoms: Of a frequent necessity of going to
stool with non-painful soft evacuations; of sleeplessness; of a state of irritation
and extraordinary activity of body and mind; finally, of a want of appetite and
thirst, however, without any change in the taste of aliments and beverages.
In this case coffee will manifest and should manifest a salutary and radical
effect in a very short time, It is likewise the most certain and most conve-
nient curative remedy in case of accidents, often dangerous, which succeed an
extreme and sudden joy, as well as in a certain kind of pains which women
lying in experience after parturition, and which resemble very much the prim-
itive effects of coffee.
* Perhaps sea-sickness, poisoning with poppy juice (supposing the person in
question be not accustomed to coffee); poisoning with white hellebore; the ap-
parent death of persons drowned, suffocated, and above all persons frozen, as
I have several times made the experiment to my great satisfaction.
TREATISE ON THE EFFECTS OF COFFEE, 35
Such is the rational and wise use of this medicinal sub-
stance, * of which very few persons know the true value, but
of which millions of men make a fatal abuse.
* NOTE OF THE TRANSLATOR.—The periodical journal devoted to the
homeopathic medical art has just offered us a very interesting article on
coffee, which contains its specific effects, discovered by experiments upon
healthy men, as well as its pharmaceutic preparation and its medicinal use,
See Archiv fur die homoopathische Heilkunst, 2r Band, 3s Heft. Leipzig bei
Reclam, 1823,