c3>rTF.E tiOP.TUS TAMAICENSIS. ssr 



cularly in summer time. This was mu;h extolled by the French travellors, w};n saw no 

 other coffee used at the houses of the great. This is called by the French, cafe a la 

 Sultan." Mosdexu 



The great superioritj' of coffee to tea, ds containing more ronrisbmeiit, and possess-' 

 ing so many qualities beneficial to the constitutions of mankind in general, mo'.*: 

 strongly recommend its general use, as a substitute for the expensive as well as perni- 

 eious'East India plant* : and this subject cannot be better coiirluded than bA'thefoi-: 

 lowing passage, from the Supplement ta the Encycloptiia Britannica, under tlic word 

 coffee : 



" If a knowledge of the principles of coffee, founded on :<arfiinatio:^' and various 

 experiments, added, to observations made on the extensive and indiscriminate use of 

 it', cannot authorise us to attribute to it any particular quality 'unfriendly to the human' 

 frame ; if the unerring test of experiencs has confirmed its utility, \n many countries, 

 not, exclusively productive of 'those inconvenienci^S;^ habits, and diseases, for which 

 its peculiar.properties seem most applicable let those properties be duly considered ; 

 and let us reflect on the state of the British atmosphere, tlie food and modes of life of 

 thei inhabitants, and the chronical infirmities which derive their origir^ from these 

 sources, and it will be evident what salutaiy effects might be expected from the general 

 dietetic use of coffee in Great. Britain." 



Dr. Fothergill says that coffee made in the following manner is pleasing" to most peo^ 

 pie, and is much preferable to tea or to coffee, made in the usual manner, for break 

 fast. Let it be made in the usual- manner, only a third part stronger; let as much 

 boiling milk be added to the coffee, before it is taken from the fire, as there is water ; 

 let it settle ; drink it with cream or xyithout, as maybe most agreeable. Very little 

 s-ugar, he says, ought to be used with coffee ; on weak stomachs it is apt to become 

 acid if made sweet ; which is one reason wi)y many people forbear drinking coffee. 

 Was coffee, he adds, substituted instead of tlie bottle after dinner, it seems more thaii 

 probable that many advantages would flow from it, both to the health of individuals, 

 and general oBconomy ; it saeuis probable, that by deferring coffee or tea so late as is 



usually 



The tea pJant in its otif;inal state is of a poisonous natnre. According to Kosmpfer it ()OsscsS a ciafnfay 

 acrid jiii"e, which is so corrosive as to excoriate the iiands of thoe who prepaie it for use : In order to cor- 

 rect tliis noxious quality, and t'le better to enable it to be rolled up or ciulerl, it is either steeped in water, or 

 steamed, by being put into a hot kettle just emptied of boiling water, in which the leaves are kept closely co- 

 vered up until they become cold. Tliey are then rolled up and dried on plates of iro-i or copper, from which 

 some of their noxious qualities are said to be derived. Even in this state, they are consi<le>ed to be so dan- 

 gerous by tile Oiinese, that the leaves are not used for a twelve-niontli after they are plucked. Nay, after ad 

 these preparations, and after time has softened its acrimony, a strona; extract of the jiiice has been attended 

 witli the mo^t fatal consequences ; and even tlie etiinvia of the herb, lonj; and frequently smelt at fas tea-bru- > 

 kers have frequently experienced), will occasion pal^y, appoplexy, and other nervous disorders. The manner 

 also in which it is brought from tlie East, in slight boxes lined with a composition of lead and tin, and ex- 

 posed to be sdfected by the corro-ion of tliote two metals (which the marine acid of the sea-water frequently 

 brings to action), mu't render the article much more nnwholesome here than in China: and not only is it a 

 fpemicioHS article of itself, but it is frequently mixed, both in A^ia and in Europe, with a variety of otheV 

 substances of a deleterious nature. There can he oo doubt that tea is naturally pernicious, and, taken in any 

 quantity, a poisonous plant; and that the use of it has occasioned the weak and enervated bodies of the Chi- 

 jtiese. Adair, in his " E^iay on Did and /ip<|-int'n,". observes, that in proportion as its use has become general, 

 many diseases, especially low fevers, hystcricaJ, hypochondriacal, paralytic, and dropsical, have be- 

 come more frequent, to which green teas have particularly cnntriauted. Udder these considerations it is n 

 wonder this herb has so long kept its ground , an I, iu u political point of view, it is certainly a serious object, 

 that it should be brouffht, at such an immense exyence of treasure, from so };reat a distance, and from a fo- 

 reign people ; when our own colonies produce, ia cotlee, a beverage.tvery way friendly to tU* hiinian frao-fc, 

 -.Sec Hhiclair'B Code of Ucalih, v. 1, f. i'H, 



