222 II O R T U S J A M A I C E N S I S. - coppse 



piate at night, are abated by a cup or two of stronsr coffee. In military ^hospitals, in 

 hot clunuti-.s, recourse is often iiad to large and rejjeated doses of o])inm; froii) which 

 1 Lave frequently observed, iliat die retenlion of the stomach of the patient lias been 

 grciitly injured ; tha secretion of urine impeded, or the bladder affected by a paralysis ; 

 even these effects have been subdued by a few cups of strong coffee. 

 . " In habits subject to haemorrhages, particularly those of the puliiionic and uterine 

 kind, ilie interdiction of coffee is every where justly admitted. 

 . " A small cup or two of coffee, immediately after dinner, promotes digestion. 



" \\'ith a draught of water previously drank, according to the eastern custom, coffee 

 is serviceable to tnose who are of a costive habit. 



'*' Coffee is not proper where tfiere has been long sitting after dinner, when heavy 

 Bieals of animal food. have been made, and much Porcugal wine has been drank ; and 

 never should be used after dinner, nor at any other time by ihose who intend to return 

 to the bottle, and drink wine immediateiv upon it. 



*' The mode of preparing this beverage for common use differs in different countries, 

 principally as to the additions made to it : but, though that is generally understood, 

 and that taste, constitution, the qualitj' of the coffee, and the quantity intended to be 

 drank, must be consulted, in regard to the proportion of coffee to the water in making 

 it ; yet there is one material point, th|e importance of which is not well understooti, and 

 which admits of no oeviation : The preservation. of the virtues of coffee, particularly 

 when it is of a fine quality, and exempt from rankness, as. has been said, depends on 

 carefully confining it after it has been roasted, and not powdering it until the time of 

 tising it, tnat tUc volatile and ethenal principles, generated b}' tlienre, mav not es- 

 cape : but all this will signify nodiing, and the best materials will be useless, unless the 

 following important atimoniiion is strictly attended to ; which is, that, after the liquor 

 is made, it slwuld be bright and clear, and entirely ^exempt from the least cloudiness or 

 Joul appearance, from a suspension of any of the. particles oj the substance of the coffee, 



" There is scarcely any vegetable infusion or decoction, whose effects differ from its 

 gross origin nio re than that of which wc are speaking. Coffee taken in substance causes 

 oppression at the stomach, heat, nausea, and indigestion : consequently a continued 

 use of a preparation of it, in which any quantiiy of its substance is contained, besides 

 being disgusting to the palate, must tend to produce the same indispositions. The re- 

 siduum of the roasted berry, after its virtues are extracted from it, is Jittle more than 

 au earthy calx,-and must therefore be injurious. The want of.attei)tion to this circum- 

 stance, I make no doubt, lias been the cause oi many of the complaints against coffee, 

 and of the aversion which some people have -to it; and it isfrom tiiis consideration that 

 coffee should not be prepared widi n iik instead of water, nor should the milk be added 

 to it on the fire, as is sometimes the case, for ceconomical dietetic purposes, where 

 only a small quantity of coffee is used, as the tenacity of the milk impedes 'the precipi- 

 tation of the grounds, which is necessary for the purity of the liquor, and therefore 

 neither the milk nor the sugar should be added, until after it is made with water in the 

 usual wa}-, and the clarification of it is completed. The milk should be hot when added 

 to the liquor of the coffee, which should also be hot, or both should be heated together, 

 in this mode of uaing coffee as an article of sustenance. 



" The Persians roast the membrane wkich envelopes the seed, and use it together 

 with the seed itself, in their manner of preparing the infusion, and it is said to be a 

 -considerable improvement. Tli peo^ile 6f fashion among the Turks and Persians 

 ziiakc a delicate diink from tiie capsules oiUy, which is cooling aad refreshing ; paiti- 



uiaj:ly 



