in China and India. It is a very favourite beverage wherever it is known. It was introduced into Europe during the seventeenth century, but the middle classes of England only began to use it daily about a hundred years after its introduction. 3. The tea-plant is allowed to grow for three years before any leaves are picked from it. The first picking takes place in the spring, and as the first leaves are the finest, they are not usually exported, but are kept as a delicacy to be used at festivals or given as a present. The second picking takes place two or three months later, and the work is done by women and children. The leaves are dried in shallow pans, which are shaken above a charcoal fire. When they are half dried, the leaves are taken out, rubbed between the hands, and thrown back again into the pan. In order to make the infusion look strong, inferior teas are sometimes mixed with colouring matters which are far from wholesome. This is never done, however, when the tea is intended for home consumption, for the Chinese will not drink any but pure tea. 4. Different people have different methods of preparing tea. In China, it is not allowed to stand for any time after the boiling water has been added to it. It is said that we who let our tea infuse, lose thereby the delicate flavour which the tea-leaf possesses. In China, the tea is sometimes placed in the cup from which it is to be drunk, and boiling water poured over it. It is taken without sugar or cream. In Russia, the place of sugar and cream is taken by a slice of lemon. 5. Although tea is a pleasant, and if properly prepared, a wholesome beverage, it is not food, and ought never to be taken as such. It acts chiefly on the nervous system, and therefore, when we are exhausted, tea soothes and refreshes us. To the student it is very useful, as it stimulates the brain to greater activity. Tea, however, ceases to be beneficial when it is taken in excess, or when it is badly made. If it is allowed to stand too long, the deleterious matter is extracted from the leaf, and tea in this stewed condition is very unwholesome. COFFEE. 6. The coffee-plant was first grown in Arabia and Abyssinia. It is now cultivated in various parts of the tropics, but Arabian coffee is considered the best. The fruit of the coffee-plant is round like a cherry, and contains two beans, which, after being separated and skinned, are dried and roasted. The peculiar odour of coffee is only brought out in the process of roasting; in their natural state, the beans have very little smell. After being roasted, the coffee is ground, and then it is ready to be cooked. On the continent, people roast and grind the coffee-beans as they are wanted, and this is a much better plan than ours of buying ground coffee, because in order to have the full flavour, coffee should be used as soon as it is ground. Chicory, a preparation of a wild root, is frequently mixed with coffee. This was done originally for the sake of cheapness, and now the mixture is frequently preferred to pure coffee. 7. In preparing coffee, it is important to separate the grounds from the liquid. This is most easily secured by using a pot with a strainer inside. should never be boiled. It 8. Coffee is very much used on the continent, and is often drunk without sugar or cream. It resembles tea in its effect on the nervous system, and it also quickens the action of the heart. Like tea, it is not nourishing, and by injudicious use becomes hurtful. It is valuable as an antidote to several poisons. COCOA AND CHOCOLATE. 9. Cocoa and chocolate are both preparations of the same seed-the seed of the cacao-tree, which grows in South America. The seed, after being roasted, is broken up into small pieces. In the preparation of cocoa, a large proportion of the fatty matter in which it is rich is removed, and starch or sugar added. This makes it more easily digested. The great objection to cocoa is that it contains so much fat as to make it difficult for weak stomachs to digest it. Chocolate is more used as a sweetmeat than as a beverage in this country. It contains more sugar than cocoa. 10. Cocoa differs from both tea and coffee in that it is food as well as drink. It has no special effect upon the nerves, and is very much to be preferred to tea or coffee for the use of children and young people. FERMENTED LIQUORS. 11. Fermented liquors are those in which, by the process of fermentation, sugar has been transformed into alcohol and carbonic acid. The three kinds of fermented liquors are beer, wine, and spirits. Of these three, beer contains least alcohol, wine has more, and spirits most. 12. Alcohol is a clear colourless spirit which is of great use in the laboratory, as it preserves and hardens animal tissue. It is not desirable, however, that animal tissue which is still in life should be hardened and preserved, because in perfect health the tissues of the body are constantly being wasted and renewed. That is one reason why alcohol should not be allowed into the body. It contains no nourishment, and is therefore of no use as food. Doctors sometimes order wine or spirits as a medicine, and under these circumstances they are taken in prescribed quantities, at specified times, and to attain a certain end. They ought never to be taken by young people; and it would be much better for great numbers of people, of all ages, if they were never taken at all, except in obedience to the doctor's orders. There is no habit so ruinous to body and soul as the habit of constant drinking, and it is unfortunately only too common in this country. We are only too familiar with examples of its effects in ruined homes and blighted happiness. Bev'-er-a-ges, things we drink. Through the Fr. from Lat. In-tro-duce', to bring in. From Del'-i-ca-cy, a nice dainty article of food. From Lat. delicatus, Fes'-ti-val, a feast. From Lat. In-fu'-sion, a liquor obtained by the good or right. From Lat. ex, In-ju-di'-cious, not according to sound judgment, unwise. From in, not, and judicious, wise, from Lat. judicium, judgment, from judex, a judge. An'-ti-dote, a cure for poison. Lit. 'that which is given against another,' from Gr. anti, against, and didōmi, I give. Trans-formed', changed. Al'-co-hol. Lit. the fine essence of a thing, made up of Arabic article al, the, and qo'chl, a very fine powder. Lab'-o-ra-tor-y, a place where scientific experiments or inquiries are carried on. From Lat. labor, labour. Tis'-sue, the substance of which the members of our body are made up. Fr. tissu, woven, from Lat. texo, textus, to weave. Pre-scribed', ordered. From Lat. præ, before, and scribo, I write. EXERCISES.-1. Explain the following: (1) It stimulates the brain to greater activity; (2) the deleterious matter; (3) injudicious use; (4) an antidote to several poisons; (5) they are taken in prescribed quantities at specified times; (6) blighted happiness. 2. Analyse and parse the following: 'The tear down childhood's cheek that flows, Is like the dew-drop on the rose. When next the wind comes hastening by, And shakes the bush, the flower is dry.' 3. Name all the derivatives you know from the following Latin roots (1) Fundo, I pour; (2) sentio, I feel; (3) civis, a citizen. QUARREL OF BRUTUS AND CASSIUS. [After the murder (44 B.C.) of Julius Cæsar by Brutus, Cassius, and other conspirators, there was civil war among the Romans. Augustus, nephew of Julius Cæsar, along with Antony, entered on a struggle for supreme power against Brutus and in the eastern provinces of Rome. Julius Caesar, Act IV., Scene 3, Cassius.] Cassius, who levied a large army, chiefly The following extract from Shakspeare's records a quarrel between Brutus and Cas. That you have wronged me, doth appear in this: Wherein my letters, praying on his side, Because I knew the man, were slighted off. 5 Bru. You wronged yourself to write in such a case. That every nice offence should bear its comment. 10 You know that you are Brutus that speak this, |