580 
herb. t. 337. Plench. icon. t. 130. 
vided. Leaves wavy, dark-green and shining above, paler be- 
neath. Flowers white, sweet-scented, disposed in axillary clus- 
ters of 4-5. Berries red, cherry-formed. The seeds or nuts 
are involved in a thin elastic pellucid aril. The coffee-tree is 
frequently cultivated in the hot-houses of our gardens for orna- 
ment, where it both flowers and ripens its fruit. It is propa- 
gated by the berries, which must be sown soon after they are 
gathered, or they will not vegetate. Cotyledons transversely 
ovate, 3-nerved at the base, and emarginate at the apex. 
Few vegetable substances have been more generally esteemed 
for their medicinal and dietetic properties than the berries of the 
coffee-tree. The plant is fully described by Ellis and several 
other writers. The coffee-tree is generally regarded as a native 
of Arabia, but Bruce says it derives its name from Caffee, a pro- 
vince of Narea, in Africa, where it grows spontaneously in great 
abundance. The plant does not appear to have been known by 
the Greeks or Romans, nor are there any facts respecting its 
origin in the East. It has been well ascertained, however, that 
the berries were imported into every part of Europe, and used as 
a favourite beverage, long before it was known of what plant 
they were the product. Prosper Alpinus has seen the coffee- 
tree, without fructification, in some gardens in Egypt; but the 
first intelligible botanical account was published by Ant. de Jus- 
sieu, inthe Mem. Acad. Scienc. Paris, in 1713. We are in- 
formed by Boerhaave, in his Index to the Leyden Garden, that it 
was first introduced into Europe by Nicholas Wisten, a burgo- 
master of Amsterdam, and chairman of the Dutch East India 
Company, who gave directions to the governor of Batavia to 
procure seed from Mocha, in Arabia Felix. These being sown 
in the Island of Java, several plants were procured, and one was 
transmitted by Wisten, about the year 1610, to the botanic 
garden at Amsterdam. From the progeny of this plant, not 
only the principal botanic gardens in Europe, but also the West 
India Islands, were supplied with this valuable tree. Soon after 
its introduction into Holland, it was cultivated by Bishop Comp- 
ton, at Fulham. 
In Arabia the fruit is dried in the sun upon mats, and the 
outer coat is separated by means of a large stone cylinder. It 
is again placed in the sun, winnowed, and packed up in bales. 
In the West India Islands, as soon as the fruit is of a deep red 
colour, it is reckoned to be ready for being gathered. Large linen 
bags, kept open by means of hoops round their mouths, is sus- 
pended by the negroes from their necks, who pull the berries with 
their hands, and, after filling the bags, empty them into a large 
basket. A single negro can easily collect three bushels in a day. 
As the berries do not ripen together, they are collected at three 
different gatherings. One thousand pounds of good coffee are 
produced from one hundred bushels of the berries just from the 
tree. The coffee-berries may now be dried in two different 
ways. The first method is to place them in the sun, in layers of 
four inches thick, on inclined planes. In a few days the pulp is 
discharged by fermentation, and in about three weeks the coffee 
is completely dry. The skin of the berries, already broken, is 
removed by mills, or in wooden mortars. ‘The second method 
is to separate the grain from the pulp at once, by means of a 
mill, and the grains are then left to soak in water for twenty-four 
hours. They are afterwards dried, and then stripped of the 
pellicle, or parchment, as it is called, by means of appropriate 
mills. The grains of coffee are afterwards winnowed, and min- 
gled with the grindings and dust of the parchment, in which 
state they are put up into bags for sale. 
Culture.—The coffee-tree is less cultivated in Jamaica than in 
Barbadoes, St. Domingo, and some other islands in the West 
Indies. Richness of soil lessens the flavour of the seeds; on 
this account, coffee produced in the dry, hot, arid climate of 
Stipulas awl-shaped, undi- 
RUBIACEÆ. CLXVIII. Correa. 
Arabia is always better than that from the West India Islands, 
In cultivating the coffee in the West Indies, the berries are sown 
immediately after being gathered, as they are found to retain 
their vegetative quality only a few weeks. In three months the 
seeds so sown produce plants fit for transplanting to the final 
plantation. In the low lands they are planted five feet apart, and 
in the mountains ten feet or more. In three years the plants will 
produce a crop, and continue bearing a number of years. The 
berries are gathered when they are just about to drop. 
Qualities and chemical properties.—When the seeds of coffee 
are roasted, a portion is converted into tannin by the action of 
heat, and an agreeable aromatic substance is developed, the na- 
ture of which has not been ascertained. The same principle is 
also developed by roasting barley, beans, and many other vege- 
tables, which, on that account, are occasionally employed as 
substitutes for coffee, and suit some stomachs better. The in- 
fusion of unroasted coffee in boiling water is of a yellowish 
green colour; but the decoction, by continuing the boiling, be- 
comes brown, and turbid on cooling. From experiments made 
chiefly by Cadet, it appears that coffee contains an aromatic 
principle, a little oil, gallic acid, mucilage, extractive and bitter 
principle. Other analyses have been made by chemists. M. 
Grindel found it to contain kinie acid, and M. Paysse has dis- 
covered what he has endeavoured to show as a peculiar acid, to 
which he has given the name of coffee acid. More recently, l 
Robiquet is said to have demonstrated another principle, which 
he names Cafeine. It is in silk-like acicular crystals, bearing a 
resemblance to Benzoic acid. ~It liquefies by the aid of a gentle 
heat; in close vessels it volatilizes, and sublimes in needles. 
Cafeine is neither acid nor alkaline; it furnishes a great quan- 
tity of azote; it dissolves with difficulty in ether, but quickly in 
water and alcohol. : 
Medical properties and uses.—It is evident that we are m- 
debted to the Arabians for our use of this pleasant beverage, as 
the first rite of Eastern hospitality is the presentation of a bowl 
of coffee. In Europe it is said to have been first used in Italy, 
in the year 1650; and, according to Dulaine, was introduced at 
the court of Paris, in 1669, by Soliman Aga, ambassador from 
the Porte. An Armenian, named Pascal, opened the first Cafe, 
and Procope the second, in “ Rue des Fossés, Saint Germain des 
Prés.” Nearly at the same time coffee was introduced into 
London. : 
By some, coffee is supposed to be best suited to the aged; 
and its abuse, as when taken too strong, is said to impair diges- 
tion, instead of promoting it; and it stimulates, heats, and pro- 
duces watchfulness in certain constitutions. The Mahometans 
of India, who use a great deal of coffee in the same way as We 
do, with the exception of combining milk with it, believe 1t tẹ 
have the effect of soothing and allaying nervous irritations, g 
prescribe it to stop the vomiting in cholera morbus. Dr. Am 
also states, that it is often employed for the same pupe y 
the Spaniards at Manilla. It is said that Sir John Floyer, ¢ se 
ing his residence in Lichfield, found great benefit in his on 
person by the use of coffee in asthma. Sir John confirms } 
success in a letter to Dr. Percival; “ On reading the section 0 
coffee,” says he, “in the second volume of your essays, se 
quality occurred to me which I had observed of that Ban 
confirming what you had said of its sedative powers. It E £ 
best abater of periodic asthma that I have seen. The co T 
ought to be the best Mocha, newly burnt, and made very ae 
immediately after grinding it. I have commonly ordere a 
ounce for one dish, which is to be repeated afresh after the in: 
terval of a quarter of an hour, without milk or sugar. Perci 
val’s Essays, vol. iii. Pas 
As a general palliative, strong coffee is often serviceable : 
various kinds of head-ache ; and where its own sedative powe 
