YERBA MATE FOR RHEUMATISM
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—In a recent issue of the Spectator a writer draws attention to the damage worked upon the general health by rheumatism and to the wide field upon which it operates. May I draw further attention to the bearing which Yerba Mate has, or is claimed to have, upon it ?
The London purveyors of Yerba Mate (alias Paraguay tea) inform us that it is in common use among two million people in South America, and that among them rheumatism is unknown. This is a big claim, but, as I have used Yerba Mate for several years with great benefit, being no longer able to use tea or coffee, I think it would pay to make full inquiry. I never was subject to rheumatism and am therefore not in evidence on that point, but I find in Yerba all the virtues that the dealer _claims and the _cost about the same as that of tea. The British stomach has been soaked in tea and tannin for about a century and ought now to require a drastic change of
beverage. .
Public inertia would no doubt hinder and the planters would oppose any disturbance of their business, but they could divert their operations from tea to Yerba and so carry
on the business.—I am, Sir, &c., J. M. LIDDRY Pincher Station, Albetta, Canada. -
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