ANALYSIS AND ADULTERATIONS OF COFFEE. 85 



intermittents, as a stomachic in some forms of dyspepsia, and as 

 a stimulant to the cerebro-spinal system in some nervous dis- 

 orders. Flayer, Percival, and others have used it in spasmodic 

 asthma 5 and Laennec says : " I have myself seen several cases in 

 which coffee was really useful. The immoderate use of coffee, 

 on the other hand, is said to produce nervous symptoms, such 

 as anxiety, tremor, disordered vision, palpitation, and feverish- 

 ness." We find the following remarks regarding the chemical 

 properties of caffeine : " Mulder gave a grain of it to a rabbit ; 

 the animal ate but little the next day, and aborted the day after. 

 Liebig has suggested that it probably contributes to the forma- 

 tion of taurine, the nitrogenized constituent of bile. Accord- 

 ing to Lehmann, caffeine in doses of from two to ten grains 

 causes violent excitement of the vascular and nervous systems, 

 palpitations of the heart, and often intermission of pulse, sleep- 

 lessness, and delirium." 



Dr. Hassall thus describes the structure of the coffee-seed : 

 " Two parts are to be discriminated in the coffee-berry, and the 

 testa or investment by which it is surrounded. The berry, 

 previous to roasting, and even after it has been soaked for a 

 long time in water, is hard and tough, in which respect it dif- 

 fers from all those substances which enter into the adulteration 

 of coffee, and which become softened by immersion in cold 

 water. The hardness is even retained subsequently to the char- 

 ring, and is so great, that by this character alone the fragments 

 of the ground and roasted coffee-berry may be readily distin- 

 guished from those of chiccory. It consists of an. assemblage of 

 vesicles or cells of an angular form, which adhere so firmly to- 

 gether that they break up into pieces rather than separate into 

 distinct and perfect cells. The cavities of the cells include, 

 in the form of little drops, a considerable quantity of aromatic 

 volatile oil, on the presence of which the fragrance, and many 

 of the active principles of the berry mainly depend. The testa, 



