TEA VERSUS BRANDY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XI, Issue 4048, 3 November 1874, Page 1 (Supplement)

TEA VERSUS BRANDY.

It is well known that during the Red Iliver Kxpedition, and that on the Gold Coast, tea was the beverage recommended for the soldier, to the exclusion of all alcolilic liquors. We incurred a certain amount of hostile criticism by hinting that it might be expedient, if not actually necessary, to issue an allowance of spirit .to troops in the field under certain circumstances. We took \ care to guard ourselves against being j thought to advocate the indiscriminate issue of a spirit ration to men of all ages and under all and every condition of climate and service, but we nevei'thcless held that soldiers would probably have been benefited by a moderate allowance of spirit after a hard day's march in a malarious, moist, and exhausting climate, and our judgement has been fortified by the opinion expressed by several medical officers who took part in the late campaign. It is all very well to institute a comparison between an issue of rum in a cup of lxot cofltee Avitli some addition in the way of a biscuit and meat; but how is the hot coßfee to be prepared during a campaign ? We tried the effect on ourselves of a total abstinence from alcoholic drinks for a brief period, and we must confess to having felt the loss of two or three glasses of wine of which we ordinarly partook in the 24 hours, and the withdrawal of the wine was not followed by an increased appetite for slied food. The main tiling appears to be to avoid alcohol altogether except at meals, and then of course, only to consume it in strict The " use a little wine for thy stomach's sake " is old and very safe advice, we suspect, for men who work hard with their brains or muscles, especially in the ease of those who have

reached middle age. 11l the case of young men, or in those who are leading an active I out-door life and possess a vigorous appetite, | alcohol is quite unnecessary as a rule, and only useful under exceptional circumstauces. It must not be forgotten, too, that there are great differences in individual constitutions in regard to the consumption of alcohol ; while a moderate use of wine agrees with most people, the smallest quantity of it disagrees with others. One of the greatest requirements of the present day is a cheap and pleasant beverage, free from alcohol, of which persons engaged in urben pursuits can partake an libitum during the summer 111 this country. No practice is more injurious than that of having recourse to what people please to term 11 a nip " of brandy in the interval between meals. The appetite is impaired and the digestion seriously deranged by sucli a practice, to say nothing of the fact that "it grows by what it feeds on, and a constant craving for alcoholic stimulauts is soon engendered. AVe should be inclined to recommend, in a future campaign a txial of cocoa or chocolate as a more portable and 1 nutritious beverage for our soldiers than cold I tea, which is not a very platable or an ' entirely unobjectionable drink to many I people.—Lancet.