140 



Maiiy persons entertain the opinion that disastrous inteUigence is to 

 be expected from other quarters, of the effects of some violent shock, of 

 which this we have felt is the more subdued tremor ; but with the 

 exception of the great earthquake which destroyed Lisbon in 1755, 

 there is no authentic record of the minor shocks, we have from time to 

 time experienced, being connected with the fearful disasters that have 

 desolated other regions. 



A good series of observations made by intelligent persons upon the 

 state of the atmosphere before and since the occurrence, the direction 

 in which the shocks were felt, how many, and of other circumstances 

 in connexion, would be greatly valued, and might be made useful, if 

 sent to the secretary of their society. 



Mr. H. SuGDEN Evans read a paper, of which the following is an 

 abstmct : — 



ON THE COFFEES OF COMMERCE. 



The author commenced his paper by giving an account of the history 

 of Coffee, from its earliest traditional discovery as a beverage, by one of 

 the Persian anchorites, to its introduction, two hundred years since, 

 into this countr}% by Edw^ards, a Turkish merchant. 



The Coffee Plant (Coffea Arahica) is an elegant evergreen shrub, 

 very much resembling the bay tree. It is a native of Ethiopia, 

 producing most elegant white flowers, and diffusing an exquisite 

 fragrance. The fruit is a plump, reddish purple berry, about the size 

 of a cherry, each berry containing two seeds (or coffee beans) within a 

 glary yellow juice. Not more than one pound of coffee beans are 

 annually produced by each tree, and as there are but a thousand trees 

 on an acre, the average yearly crop is a thousand pounds of coffee per 

 acre. 



The fruit is usually gathered in May, and is partially dried in the 

 sun, then crushed, to separate the seeds, which are either cleansed and 

 dried in the shade, or, as in the West Indies, allowed to steep for 

 twelve hours in water, and then dried in the sun. 



After describing the varieties of coffee met with in the market, 

 and the damages frequently sustained on the voyage, Mr. Evans 

 proceeded to detail the various modes of using coffee. In the first 

 place, the bean has to be roasted, to develope its aroma: and on the 

 manner in which this operation is conducted depends the excellence 

 and flavour of the coffee. Various means are adopted for the roasting 

 of coffee ; but in Europe, generally, cylinders of silver or iron, revolving 

 slowly over a bright charcoal or coke fire, are chiefly employed. In 



