Hahnemann called attention to the deleterious effects of coffee drinking and his monograph upon this subject is well worth reading and study today. Although we may not agree with all that he has said upon the evil effects of excessive use of coffee, nevertheless we must admit that there are many people to whom this delightful beverage is a positive poison.
Highly excitable, nervous, quick-tempered persons whose lives are filled with strenuous duties are apt to depend upon coffee for their stimulation, which they soon come to believe is vital to their successful careers and very existence. Such people are most likely to be injuriously influenced by coffee, however exhilarating its primary effect may be. For them a suitable substitute is a great necessity, but unfortunately such substitutes are hard to find, more especially those which are palatable and at the same time innocuous, as well as within a reasonable price.
Homoeopathic physicians well know the powerfully stimulating effects of coffee and in their practice make use of Coffea arabica more particularly, as a medicine of great value, when properly used in highly potentized form and in accordance with the wellknown pathogenetic powers of this drug. Thus coffee stimulates all the sense to a high and abnormal degree, the sense of pain perception, for example, being made far more keen, so that the victim becomes disturbed to the point of uncontrollable hysteria and in his intense mental and nervous agitation tosses about the bed, absolutely unable to sleep.
We see from this that insomnia is one of the most serious symptoms likely to manifest itself in the subject who is oversensitive to this universally used and abused domestic drink. Hence homoeopathic physicians, especially, whose knowledge of drug action is far greater than that of their colleagues of other school, frequently have occasion to interdict the use of coffee by their patients, but are at the same time in a quandary to know just which substitute to advise. It will be welcome news to them to know that at last a real succedaneum for coffee has been found and perfected, after some twenty years of experimentation and trial.
This preparation of natural roots and vegetables is so compounded that the tannic acid and the active principle of coffee caffeine are both antidoted; furthermore, this new substitute is rich in the natural vitamins which are now recognized as necessary to the preservation of normal good health. Under the aptly chosen name of “Grains of Health,” the preparation can now be obtained from Mr. C.M. Watson, City Bank Building, Wheeling, West Virginia, and will soon be placed on sale everywhere. Several homoeopathic physicians of distinction have tested and highly praised Grains of Health, so that, with full confidence in its merit, we are glad to make known to the profession and to recommend this long- desired want.
