CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS. 253 



in the raw bean varying from 8 to 1 3 per cent., at least one- 

 half of which is dissipated and lost in the roasting, so that it 

 might prove a paying experiment to attempt to collect 

 this oil, especially in. large establishments where much 

 coffee is roasted, several pounds of this oil being wasted 

 daily which might find a ready market at a handsome profit 

 in the manufacture of liqueurs. It is best obtained by 

 crushing about 50 pounds of roasted coffee in a mortar 

 and then extracting with the aid of ether and alcohol. 

 The oil of coffee obtained in this manner is a thick, green, 

 almost transparent substance, which deposits after a time 

 a few long needles of caffeine, proving that since caffeine is 

 not extracted from the exhausted beans by ether, and very 

 little is taken up by the alcohol employed, the coffee 

 from which the oil has been extracted may be again used 

 for the manufacture of caffeine. The oil becomes turbid 

 in about six months from the time of extraction, although 

 preserved in hermetically-sealed bottles small groups of 

 crystals forming in the middle of the liquid, but slowly 

 settling in the bottom, forming a precipitate, which in time 

 forms a cloudy mass of crystals, consisting of the solid 

 fatty acids, but the upper layer remaining clear and trans- 

 parent foryears, and of a beautiful green color, proving that 

 a portion of the coffee oil consists of liquid oleic acid. 

 Taken alone, this " oil of coffee " is found to produce 

 a gentle perspiration and exhilaration, as well as to 

 stimulate the mental faculties, but is claimed to retard, in 

 a marked degree, the process of food assimilation, and 

 consequently the waste of tissue matter. It also produces 

 an aperient effect on the bowels, while overdoses cause 

 sleeplessness and symptoms of sthenic excitement, a 

 condition clearly bordering on inflammation. 



Experiments made with Caffeine and Caffeone prove 

 that they produce different effects on the animal economy, 



