186 CULINAKY ARTS. [ VII. 



water. When sulphuric acid, oxide of iron, or organic mat- 

 ters are present, this oxide unites and forms with them a highly 

 protective covering. 



Paraguay Tea. — A decoction of the leaves of Ilex Para- 

 guayensis is used in South America as a beverage, in place of 

 tea and coffee, and hence its vulgar name of " Paraguay tea." 

 According to Stenhouse and Rochleder (Ann. der Chem. und 

 Pharm. Ixvi.) its crystalline principle is identical with caffein, 

 and its acid gives the same reactions as caffeo-tannic acid. 



CJdcory Coffee. — This article, originally manufactured in 

 Holland, a century since, was first made in France in 1801, 

 by Orban and Giraud. Since then, it has become an important 

 object of commerce ; the exports from 1827 to 1836 having 

 reached 458,971 kilogrammes. The home consumption alone 

 amounts to 12,000,000 pounds. It is used alone, or mixed 

 with coffee, to which it imparts a bitter taste, and at the same 

 time, it is said, modifying its stimulant action. It is fre- 

 quently adulterated with coffee-grounds, brick-dust,- earthy 

 matters, roasted acorns, corn, haricots, and peas. Of these 

 fraudulent mixtures, those containing starch may be detected 

 by means of iodine-water. The coffee-grounds are recognised 

 by throwing a pinch of the suspected chicory, previously dried, 

 over a water-bath, upon the surface of water ; the chicory' 

 absorbs water and sinks, the coffee-grounds float. 



The mode of preparing chicory coffee is, to collect the plant 

 in the spring, and to strip and wash the roots. These roots 

 are then divided into longitudinal strips, which are in turn 

 still further reduced in size by being cut transversely, and 

 dried in a heated chamber. The drying is facilitated by fre- 

 quent stirring, and the root thus prepared takes the name of 

 cossetes. After roasting in cylinders, 2 per cent, of butter is 

 added and the machine rotated several times, in olKer to give 

 lustre and the appearance of coffee to the chicory. Grinding 

 between cylinders, sieving, and coloring with rouge brun de 

 Prusse, complete the operation. 



On chicory coffee, by Chevallier, see Amer. Journ. 2d ser. 

 vni. 441, and Chem. Gaz. 1849. 



