100 THE PLANT WORLD. 



been told that the physicians there frequentl}^ prescribe it for ailing 

 infants. Scott (not the novelist) in 1765 declared that the exhilarat- 

 ing effects of coffee made it "one of the best breakfasts in the world 

 for the honest, brave people of the foggy island of Great Britain, 

 where such a multitude of melancholy accidents happen from a lowness of 

 spirits." Another says, "If Queen Elizabeth had breakfasted upon 

 coffee and hot rolls, instead of beer and bacon Queen Mary would 

 have never been beheaded." An old Arab, probably speaking from 

 experience, exclaimed, "Grief cannot exist where it grows and sorrow 

 humbles itself before its power." 



In addition to its well-known soporilic properties, coffee is also a 

 cure for headache, a purgative, an astringent, a stomachic, a febrifuge, 

 a nerve tonic, an asthma cure, a specific for calculus complaints, gravel, 

 gout and rheumatism. It is an antidote for alcohol or opium poisoning, 

 a remedy in infant cholera, a disinfectant, an external application for 

 foul sores, an excellent preventative against epidemics, and useful in 

 cases of h3'steria. It has been often found superior to quinine in 

 malarial fever, and some doctors consider it almost a specific against 

 typhoid, and of great benefit in yellow fever, sometimes succeeding 

 when all other remedies have failed. During the cholera })lague in 

 New York in 1835, the physicians of that city issued a manifesto urg- 

 ing the people to use no other drink but strong, pure coffee to keep 

 the system healthy, and render it less liable to the disease. Professor 

 •Beer, an eminent Vienna oculist, maintains that, pure, hot, freshly 

 made coffee is very invigorating to the eyes," but attributes many eye 

 troubles to the use of chicory. 



According to Walsh, the great absorbent power of coffee makes it 

 a good barometer. On the eve of a storm the beans become damp and 

 can only be ground with difiiculty. Moreover, if the air-bubbles lib- 

 erated by the solution of a lump of sugar in a cup of coffee, collect in 

 the middle of the cup, it will be a fair day; if they adhere to the sides 

 of the cup, leaving the center free, rain is at hand; if they are irregu- 

 larly scattered over the surface, the weather will be changeable. 



The pulp of coffee berries may be fermented to make a liquor like 

 arrack; the dried husks are infused; the wood of the tree is highly 

 prized for engraving and printing; the smaller branches make good 

 walking sticks; a magnificent dye can be prepared from the alkaloid of 

 the fruit; and if anyone is greatly in need of anything else, the coffee- 

 plant in some of its })arts will surely show itself equal to the demand. 



Washing-ton, D. C. 



