pound and three ounces; one quart of fine sugar weighs one pound and
a half.

CHAPTER III.

BEVERAGES.

In my little book on "FIFTEEN CENT DINNERS," I decidedly advocate the
substitution of milk or milk and water as a drink at meal times, for tea
and coffee, on the score of economy; because milk is a food, while the
two former drinks are chiefly stimulants. They are pleasant because they
warm and exhilarate, but they are luxuries because they give no
strength; therefore their use is extravagant when we are pinched for
healthy food. It is true that when we drink them we do not feel as
hungry as we do without them. The sensation of hunger is nature's sure
sign that the body needs a new supply of food because the last has been
exhausted; the change of the nourishing qualities of food into strength
is always going on as long as any remains in the system; the use of tea,
coffee, and alcohol, hinders this change, and consequently we are less
hungry when we use them than when we do without them. Tea and coffee are
certainly important aids to the cheerfulness and comfort of home; and
when the first stage of economy, where every penny must be counted, has
passed, we do not know of any pleasanter accessory to a meal than a cup
of good tea or coffee.

=Tea.=--The physiological action of very strong tea is marked; moderately
used it excites the action of the skin, lungs, and nervous system, and
soothes any undue action of the heart; used to excess, it causes
indigestion, nervousness, and wakefulness. No doubt its effects are
greatly modified by climate, for the Russians drink enormous quantities
of very strong, fine tea. A recent war report gives the following
account of its use in the army.

"The Russian soldiers are said to live and fight almost wholly upon tea.
The Cossacks often carry it about in the shape of bricks, or rather
tiles, which, before hardening, are soaked in sheep's blood and boiled
in milk, with the addition of flour, butter and salt, so as to
constitute a kind of soup. The passion of the Russian for this beverage
is simply astonishing. In the depth of winter he will empty twenty cups
in succession, at nearly boiling point, until he perspires at every
pore, and then, in a state of excitement rush out, roll in the snow, get
up and go on to the next similar place of entertainment. So with the
army. With every group or circle of tents travels the invariable tea
kettle, suspended from a tripod; and it w