ent. Almost every one can testify to the effect of coffee in increasing his capacity for labor, especially mental, by producing wakefulness and clearness of intellectual perception. Habitual use makes coffee almost a necessity even to those who are otherwise well nourished and subject to no excessive labor. It is said that when taken in large quantities it produces persistent wakefulness, and that it is often taken to prevent the desire to sleep. It has been shown by experiment that the use of coffee permits the reduction of food much below the standard which would otherwise be required to maintain the organism in a proper condition. Dr. Hayes, the Arctic explorer, bears testimony to the beneficial effect of coffee on exposed and over-taxed men, and says its influence was much superior to alcoholic stimulants. These facts are important, for there could be no better test of the value of this beverage than in men subjected to intense cold and great hardships. Coffee is prepared for use by roasting, a process that is called "torrification," before it is made into an infusion. The roasting should be made slowly and continued until the grains acquire a chestnut-brown color. During this process the grains are considerably swollen and they lose about sixteen per cent. of their weight; also develop a peculiar aromatic principle. The roasting must not be pushed too far or the agreeable flavor will be lost, and a bitter, acrid taste will result. An infusion of fifteen hundred grains by weight, of roasted and ground coffee in a quart of boiling water, made after the French manner by simple percolation, is the best method of making the beverage. There are numerous varieties of coffee, but the best in the market is the Arabian Mocha. In the countries where coffee is grown, the leaves of the shrub are roasted and made into a beverage as we use the berry. The effects on the system are the same, and the natives are said to prefer the leaves to the berry.

The dried and prepared leaves of the tea-plant made into an infusion are probably as extensively used as coffee, taking into account the enormous quantity used in the countries where it is grown. Its effects are almost the same as coffee, in fact the active principle of the two substances has been found to be chemically identical.

Two kinds of tea are found in our markets; the green and black teas. The manner of their production is somewhat of a mystery; whether they are the product of the same plant taken off at different periods of their growth or whether they are grown on two distinct species of plant is not known with certainty. The black tea is the stronger, yielding about three per cent more soluble matter than the green. Tea is prepared for drinking by rapidly making an infusion with hot water; boiling destroys the aroma. Three hundred grains to a quart of water is the best proportion. The leaves are first covered with boiling water and are allowed to "steep" for ten or fifteen minutes in a warm place, when boiling water is added to the quantity desired.

Chocolate is made from the seeds of the cocoa tree, roasted, deprived of their husks and ground with warm rollers into a pasty mass with sugar, flavoring substances being sometimes added. It is then made into cakes, cut into small pieces or scraped into powder

and boiled with milk or milk and sugar and water, when it forms a thick drink like gruel which is highly nutritive, and has some of the physiological effects of tea and coffee. Taken with a little bread it readily relieves hunger, but its stimulant qualities are slight compared with these latter beverages.

REGISTRATION.

The Necessity and Advantages of a Registration of the Vital Statistics of Wisconsin.

BY JOSEPH HOBBINS, M. D., OF MADISON,

MEMBER OF

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, AND FELLOW OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, LONDON.

*

REGISTRATION.

This paper, intended for the general reader, has for its object-to show the necessity and advantages of a registration of the vital statistics of Wisconsin; what we are doing to obtain. such a system; what ought to be done to make it operative, and who are to do the work.

If it be true, as Locke says, that "the end of government is the good of mankind," then, the protection of the health and life of its people is the first duty of a government.

In order, however, to effectually legislate for the protection and preservation of the public health, the well being and longevity of its subjects, the government of necessity must know not only by figures, the birth and death rate of the governed, but the agencies which conduce to the production of those figures. Hence the necessity for the adoption of a system of registration, a system in operation in every other civilized nation, and in many of the more intelligent States of this country.

It may be well to premise that this practice of registration is not a thing of to-day, that it has nothing in its character that is either novel or theoretical. It has existed, with the greatest practical benefit, in Geneva, Switzerland, since 1549. It was introduced into New England as early as 1639, an act being passed in Massachusetts, ordering "that the days of every marriage, birth, and death of every person within the jurisdiction" of that State should be recorded.

The health of its subjects and the average duration of their lives is to every government a matter of the highest consideration. And to be indifferent to, or ignorant of the laws which affect human existence, would be to make the legislator responsible for the ravages of every preventable epidemic invasion. But how shall the legislator or government of our State be able to act intelligently or effectually in relation to public health? In no other way, we reiterate, is it possible than by an adequate knowledge of our vital statistics, to be derived through registration, by which not only are the causes of disease and death ascertained, but the proportion of the death-rate to the population, and to the occupation of those who died-knowledge of no secondary importance. In no other way than by carrying out this system of registry can we fully know-that which concerns us so much to know-what parts of our State are best adapted to health, or most provocative of disease, or the parts best calculated to ameliorate certain classes of disease. We do know that some places and circumstances are more fatal to children, some to adults, and some to the aged, than others. In one locality one class of disease, and in a different one another class prevail. So much is known of all the States, but