then, that they grow pale and bloodless; that their muscles turn soft and flabby; that their nervous system becomes shattered; and that they suffer the agonies of indigestion?  Their favourite time for a chat and the consumption of tea is at any period between ten o’clock in the morning and three in the afternoon.  Now, if there is anything of which I am certain, it is that tea in the middle of the day, say from ten o’clock to three, is a deadly destructive fluid.  And I am equally certain, too, that innumerable numbers of young girls employed in business do themselves an irreparable amount of injury by making their mid-day meal consist of nothing else but tea and a little bread and butter.  There is no nourishment whatever in such fare, and it inevitably leads to the bad symptoms already detailed and general unhealthiness, if not to the onset of graver disease.  No, they require something which is nutritious, such as a little warm soup of some kind, a modicum of bread, and say two different varieties of vegetables to follow.  Of course this may be extended to include pudding, stewed fruit, &c., but the former is ample enough in many respects.  This is a very important matter to which the attention of proprietors and managers of large establishments, factories, and other places employing many female hands might well be directed.  And, moreover, if ever there was an opportunity for an active organization to achieve really valuable work, it would be in seeing that our city girls had something better to eat in the middle of the day than tea and bread and butter.

As in every other case, however, there is all the difference in the world between the use of anything and its abuse.  It is wrong to assume that, because a great deal of something is injurious, a small quantity judiciously employed is equally pernicious.  And so it is even in the case of tea, for it is not to be denied that a fragrant cup of tea is very agreeable.  As Dr. Vivian Poore most appropriately remarked in reply to the argument that the lower animals did not require tea, coffee, &c.:  “We are not lower animals; we have minds as well as bodies; and since these substances have the property of enabling us to bear our worries and fatigues, let us accept them, make rational use of them, and be thankful.”  Of course everything hinges upon the correct interpretation of the terms “small” quantity, and “judiciously” employed.  It may be said, however, that the drinking of large cups of tea is never to be sanctioned under ally circumstances whatever.  It should rather be looked upon as a delicate fluid to be imbibed only in very small quantities.  It should certainly not be used in the middle of the day, between those hours which I have specified; nor should it be taken during the evening, for it almost always disturbs the night’s rest.