BRITISH COFFEE. 73 



IF the process of roasting be continued longer, the smoke Over-roasting, 

 increases in quantity and density, acquiring a very pene- 

 trating empyreumatic odour, the seeds become black from 

 carbonization, and the aroma is entirely destroyed. 



The two great inconveniences in performing this opera- Precautions to 

 tion with the greatest success are, 1st, the shape of the 

 seeds, which occasions an inequality in the roasting, unless 

 they be continually stirred during the process : 2dly, the 

 tough consistence of the seeds, which renders it necessary 

 to conduct the operation very slowly, for if the fire be too 

 violent, the oil will be burnt and communicate a nauseous 

 flavour to the coffee ; and if the seeds be not sufficiently 

 dried and hardened by the continuance of the heat, they 

 will remain too tough for the mill to be able to grind them. 



In short, the whole art of roasting them consists in being 

 able to continue the heat long enough to render the seeds 

 of a dark brown colour, perfectly opake, and sufficiently 

 brittle to be readily ground by the mill, without allowing it 

 to be so fierce as to carbonize the oil, which exudes from 

 them. 



These very directions are as precisely applicable, and as These precau. 

 necessary to be attended to, in roasting foreign coffee, as in ^?J£ coffeeST* 

 preparing the seeds of the iris pseudacorus. 



I have preserved the aroma of this British coffee in the 

 greatest perfection, by roasting the seeds in the husks; and 

 could a method be contrived for separating the roasted seeds 

 from the carbonized husks, which may easily be done, I have 

 no doubt but this would be by far the best method of con- 

 ducting the process. 



P. S. 1 hope the idea of presenting the public with a 

 general Index to the Philosophical Journal is not wholly 

 given up. The work itself is now so considerable a depo- 

 sitory of knowledge and multifarious information, that it is 

 become a work of daily reference, and the public have a 

 right to expect a general index. So far from the sale of the 

 work being diminished by such a measure, I should think it 

 would be increased by the adoption of a fresh series. 



W. S. 



XIL 



