:'-'4 HORTUS JAMAICENSTS. cotfrs 



usiKiUy practised, we Interrupt digestion, amd-atld a -new load of matter-to that alrr;u!y 

 on tiie stomach. * 



Dr. Hill menlions, among tiie Eastrrn nations they make coffee of the memhranos 

 sunonnding- the seeds, not of the seeds themselves, as we do ; and adds, that a decoc- 

 tion of the raw or unroasted seeds is a powerful diuretic and .sii(iorific- ; which medicinal 

 qiiaUtv may i)e useful in the strangury or.fiiippn-ssion of urine. For this purpose Hj 

 small taJilo-spoonfnl of the grain, boiled in a cpi art of water/ for a short tnne, is to be 

 used as a common drink. 



A dish of strong coflte newJ^'tuasted, and drank withont milk, relieves the asthma. 



Coffee, though It relieves the liead-athe, yet, -freqiienily in ohstinate ones, it is 

 necessary toad*! from twenty to f^^rty drops of laudanum. Strong- coffee is well known 

 to occasion wakeiidness, but, when tosed to excess, perhaps it is less generally knovva 

 "to lay a foundation for paralytic complaints. 



The foliwving dtrecticns for riTaking coffee, by the Earl ofBuchan, as well as the 

 "Arabian mode oi' preparing it, are tnj<ea from Sinclair'' s Code of Health, v. 1, p. 377 ; 

 " Roast tiie beans by a gradual application of heat, scorching but not burning them, 

 keeping the roasting instrument all tiie time, and thereafter, excluded from evapora- 

 .tion in ihe air. Next pound the beiins with a pestle and mortar to an impalpable pow- 

 der, not grinding them with a coffee niili, as is wshal, when thev remain gritty, anfl 

 unfit to.afford a perfect tincture by boiling."" Di:. GriiEths, in his Eastern Tour, gives 

 -the following account of -the Turkish or Arabian mode of preparing coffee: "It is 

 ground or beaten to an impalpable powder, and preserved closely, by pressing it down 

 in a vvooden box. The quantity required for use is scraped from the surface of the 

 mass by means of a wooden spoon. Two small coffee pots are employed; in one ii 

 "boiled the water, generally mixed with the rem;:ining coffee of a former njeal ; in the 

 other is put the fresh powder, wluch is sometimes placed near the fire, to become 

 -heated before the boiling water is added to it. The mixture is tljen boiled two or three 

 -times, taking care to pour a few drops of cold water upon it the last time, or to place 

 -a cloth dipped in cold water over it, then it is allowed to subside, and afterwards poured 

 into the coffee pot, which contained only the boiling water." 



" The quantitv of coffee powder necessary to make a fine strong tincture of coffee, 

 may be estimated at one coffee cup ot coffee powder, and three dishes of proper coffee 

 Jiquor for tlie table." ^inc/airs Cade of Health. 



The agreeable liquor prepared fi'om coffee seeds is said to have been drank from time 

 immemorial i a Ethiopia Mr. Bruce, in his Travels, says that the Galla, a wandering 

 nation of Africa, in their incursions on Abyssinia, being obliged to traverse immense 

 desarts, and being .also desirous of falling on the Abyssinians without warning, that 

 they may be encumbered as little as possible with baggage, carry nothing with theru t- 

 eat but coffee roasted till it can be pulverised, and then mixed witlrtutter into balls, 

 and put into a leathern bag. One of these, about the size of a billucrd ball, keeps 

 them, they say^ in strength and spirits during a whole day's fatigue, better than a loaf 

 of bread, or a meal of meat. It was introduced into Aden, in Arabia, from Persia, by 

 Gemaleddin, only about the middle of the hfteenth century. Not long after it rcacheil 

 Mecca, Medina, &c. and Grand Cairo ; hence it continued its progress to Damascus 

 and Aleppo ; and in 1554 became known in Constantinople ; being introduced there 

 by tvo persons, whose naiu^ were Siieais aiid Hekiii ; one from Damascus, the other 



.from 



