It would be difficult to give any typical description of the general character of the soft beverage. Nearly all of these beverages contain sugar and this is a point against them. Sugar is not a good ingredient of a "cooling" drink. Many of them contain carbon dioxid, aromatics, spices, and flavors. Others contain bitter principles which are supposed to be stimulants and tonics, and unfortunately many of them contain drugs which are objectionable from every point of view. Some of these products are decidedly of the habit-forming family, such as cocain and its preparations, while others belong to less objectionable classes, such as caffein, theobromin, etc. The principle may be broadly stated that the addition of any drug of this kind or character to a soft beverage which is consumed so extensively by the children of the country is highly objectionable and if it cannot be prevented in any other way, should be prohibited by law. The remarkable fact is exhibited in this country of parents who refuse to allow their children to drink coffee or tea at home, on the assumption that it may prove injurious to them, unwittingly permitting them to drink the active principle of these two bodies, namely, caffein, under the guise of coca cola, pepsi cola, tokola, cola coke, and other similar beverages at the soft beverage fountain. It is perfectly certain that if these parents were informed of the nature of beverages of this kind they would forbid their children to use them.

The extent of the soft beverage industry, its popular qualities, and the popularity of its products in this country, merit a more particular description of some of the more important members of the series.

Substances Usually Employed in the Preparation of

Soft Beverages