Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1892 — THE KOLA NUT. [ARTICLE]

THE KOLA NUT.

Can It Be Made to Take the Plane es Toa and Coffee? A well-known medical Journal Is recommending the kola nut as a substitute for tea and coffee. The nut, it is said, contains little tannin and not much more caffeine. It is claimed that It will soon take the place of tea and coffee entirely. A botanist, who has made a special study of the nut and its properties, said to a Cincinnati Times-Star reporter: “It is a mistake to say that the nut win- take the place of tea and coffee. It has an astringent taste that is unpleasant, and I do not believe that it will ever be used extensively, or at all, in civilized countries. The kola nut is a native of the coasts of Africa, but has been introduced into and thrives well in the West Indies and Brazil. It grows on a tree forty feet high, which produces pale yellow flowers spotted with purple. The leaves of the tree are six or eight inches long, and are pointed at both ends. The fruit consists of five long, slender pods radiating from a common center. One of these when broken open is found to contain several nuts somewhat similar to hazelnuts and of about the same size. The nuts are solid, being slightly softer toward the center than on the outside. “The natives of tlie countries where the nuts grow use them for various purposes. They pass for money in Africa. They are also used as a symbol of friendship and hate, the light colored ones signifying the former, and the dark the latter. They are supposed to aid digestion, and it is the practice to chew a small bit before eating a meal. They allay thirst, and if a small piece be chewed and held in the mouth while drinking, the most bitter and stagnant water can be taken, and will taste sweet and agreeable. I doubt if this quality of rendering stagnant water pure is possible by the nuts. I rather think that the astringent taste of the nut paralyzes the gustatory nerves momentarily, and for that reason the water is not tasted. Hunger they are also supposed to allay, but they do no more than paralyze the nerves. They have a stimulating effect, and when going on long marches the natives chew bits of the nuts continually, and with about the same effect as if intoxicating liquor had been used, though without the same bad results. Powdered kola nut is sprinkled in cuts and wounds and has a healing effect. “A chemical analysis of the nuts shows them to contain 20 parts of caffeine and but a fraction of a part of tannin. No, it will never be used in the place of tea and coffee. Its taste and chemical properties are against it.”