182 COFFEE. 



which is immersed in water, until the grain swells and shows sign« 

 of germination ; the seedsman walking through the inundated fvsld, 

 scatters the seed with his hand as usual, the rice immediately sinks 

 to the bottom, and may even pent.rate to a certain depth into the 

 mud. In Piedmont, where the sowing takes place at the beginning 

 of April, they generally use about fifty-five pounds of seed per acre. 

 The rice begins to show itself above the surface of the water at the 

 end of a fortnight ; as the plant grows, the depth of the water is in- 

 creased, so that the stalks may not bend with their own weight. 

 About the middle of June this disposition is no longer to be appre- 

 hended ; the rice is no longer so flexible as it was, so that the water 

 can be drawn ofl^for a few days to permit hoeing, after which the 

 water is let on and maintained to the height of the plant ; in July it 

 is usual to top the stalks, an operation which renders the flowering 

 almost simultaneous. Rice generally flowers in the beginning of the 

 month of August, and a fortnight later the grain begins to form. 

 It is at this period especially that the stalks require to be supported, 

 and this is eflectually done by keeping the water at about half their 

 height. The rice-field is emptied when the straw turns yellow. 

 The harvest generally takes place at the end of September. In the 

 Isle of France, rice is cultivated in very damp soils, upon which a 

 great deal of rain falls, but which are not flooded artificially. I 

 have seen the same process followed in other tropical countries 

 which I have visited, but I do not think that the produce is so great, 

 or the crop so certain, as where inundation is empkiyed. In Pied- 

 mont, the usual return from a rice-field is reckoned at about 50 for I 

 of seed. At Muzo, in New Granada, the paddy fields, which are 

 not inundated, under the influence of a mean temperature of 26° cent. 

 (79° Fahr.) yield 100 for 1. 



Three kinds of rice yielded, on analvsis, the following quantities 

 of— 



Caro'iia. Piedmont. Ricf. 



Starch 89..> 90.1 86.9 



Gluten, albumen, &.C 3.H 3.0 7.5 



Fatty miitters 0.-2 0.3 0.8 



BtiEJir (glucose ?) 0.3 0.1) „- 



Gum 0.7 O.li "•* 



Woody tissue . .*. .')! 5.1 3.4 



Phosphate of lime 0.4 0.4; q^ 



Chloride of jiotassium, phosphiito of ditto, &c. S 



luo.o TooTi 100.6 



M. Payen's analysis indicates a prop<Mti<in of azote, the double of 

 that found by M. 13raconnot. In a trial for azote, which I made 

 myself, I touiid 1.2 of this element per cent., which would show the 

 aniount of albumen and gluten to be 7.5, a quantity that corresponds 

 exactly with M. Payen's valuation. 



Coftee, {Coffca Arahica.) The habit of u.^-ing the infusion of 

 coflee appears to have been introduced into Jlmi pe about the middle 

 of the sixtectilh century. 'J'he first public esta!1'i^hments for the sale 

 of the drink were opened in Constantinople in the year 1554. The 

 use of coflee remained for a long time cont\:ed to the Fast; but h: 



