COF 



COF 



Two beans are found in the inte- j 

 rior of each berry ; in order to free 

 these from the pulp which surrounds 

 them, they are passed througli a kind 

 of mill, and the coffee is steeped in 

 water for twenty-four hours in order 

 to free it from the mucilaginous mat- 

 ter which adheres to it : it is then 

 dried by being spread out upon a tloor 

 under a shed. In the coffee planta- 

 tions of Venezuela which I visited, I 

 saw them proceed in another way : 

 the berries were exposed to the sun 

 upon a piece of ground somewhat in- 

 clined, and spread out to about three 

 inches in thickness ; the pulp soon 

 enters into fermentation, and a very 

 distinct vinous odour is exhaled, and 

 the juice altered either flows away 

 or dries up ; at the end of a fort- 

 night or three weeks the berries are 

 all dry and shrivelled, and they then 

 undergo two triturations, one to ob- 

 tain the seeds or beans, the other to 

 detach a thin pellicle which surrounds 

 them. Three bushels of berries will 

 yield from 85 to 90 pounds of mar- 

 ketable coffee. 



During the destruction of the sugary 

 matter contained in the pulp of the 

 berry, a considerable quantity of spir- 

 it is produced and dissipated. M. 

 Humboldt, struck with the readiness 

 with which the berry of the coffee 

 plant runs into fermentation, express- 

 es his surprise that no one ever 

 thought of obtaining alcohol from it. 

 In an old work, however, I find the 

 following passage ■. "The inhabitants 

 of Arabia take the skin which sur- 

 rounds the coffee bean, and prepare it 

 as we do raisins ; they form a drink 

 with it for refreshment during the 

 summer."* This vinous liquor ap- 

 pears to enjoy all the exciting prop- 

 erties which are esteemed in the in- 

 fusion of coffee. 



The coffee plant continues to pro- 

 duce to the age of forty to forty-five 

 years ; it bears to a considerable ex- 

 tent even in the third year. Some 

 shrubs yield from 17 to 22 pounds of 

 dry coflee beans ; but this is a very 

 large quantity. An acre of land in 

 the Valley d'Aragua, planted with 

 about 1040 shrubs, will yield about 



940 or 950 pounds, wliich is at the 

 rale of somewhat less than one pound 

 per shrub. 



Coffee contains the same active 

 principle as tea, coffeine, but in less 

 proportion ; the researches of differ- 

 ent chemists have also shown the 

 presence of a particular acid called 

 coffeic acid, of fatty matters, a vola- 

 tile oil, a colouring matter, albumen, 

 tannin, and alkaline and earthy salts. 

 — (Boussmgault.) 



COFFEE-TREE. The Gymnocla- 

 dus Canadensis. A leguminous tree, 

 the beans of which have been slight- 

 ly used for coffee ; they are nutri- 

 tious, but rather sickening, and are 

 said to destroy flies with great cer- 

 tainty when a decoction is exposed 

 in proper places. The foliage of the 

 tree is like that of the black walnut. 



The tree often attains 60 feet, and 

 15 inches diameter ; it has few branch- 

 es, and those thick : its presence is 

 said to indicate the richest soils. The 

 wood is rosy, compact, and as dura- 

 ble as the locust, and like it, contain- 

 ing very little sap wood. 



COFFER DAM. In architecture 

 and bridge-building, a case of piling, 

 water-tight,' fixed in the bed of a riv- 

 er for the purpose of laying the bot- 

 tom dry for a space large enough to 

 build the pier on. Coffer dams are 

 formed in various ways, either by a 

 single enclosure or a double one, 

 with clay or chalk rammed in be- 

 tween the two to prevent the water 

 from coming through the sides. They 

 are also made either with piles only, 

 driven close together, and sometimes 

 notched or dovetailed into one an- 

 other ; or, if the water is not very 

 deep, by piles driven at a distance of 

 five or six feet from each other, and 

 grooved in the sides with boards let 

 down between them in the grooves. 

 In order to build in coffer dams, a 

 very good natural bottom of solid 

 earth or clay is required ; for though 

 the sides be made water-tight, ii' the 

 bed of the river be of a loose con- 

 sistence, the water will ooze up 

 through it in too great a quantity to 



* Mem. of the Academy of Inscriptions, vol. 

 xxiii., p. 214. 



