32 



and ready separation of the cells of the cellulose, as well as 

 by the fibrous markings on their surfaces. 



Plate 3 shows a fragment of roasted coffee as seen under 

 the microscope, magnified 140 diameters, and the structures 

 in a sample of coffee adulterated with chicory. 



Dr. Normandy, in his evidence before the Parliamentary 

 Committee on the Adulteration of Food, &c., stated that he 

 had met with roasted corn in coffee to an extent of from 

 25 to 30 per cent ; it is recognised by the size and character 

 of the starch granules ; consists of barley and rye, and is 

 generally very easy to detect ; it floats up. If coffee has 

 been adulterated with roasted grain, when you pour boiling 

 water upon it you will see rising against the sides of the cup 

 portions of the ground grain, which you sometimes can sepa- 

 rate in considerable quantities, by capillary attraction. If you 

 pour such coffee from the coffee-pot, some of those grains will 

 fall with the liquid in the cup, and they will climb up, as it 

 were, the sides of the cup a quarter of an inch, or something 

 of that kind, all round, and you can collect them very easily. 

 Dr. E. D. Thompson, F.H.S., another witness, stated that 

 a large cargo of lupins from Egypt having been imported, 

 which could not be made any use of in consequence of their 

 bitter taste, he was asked to give a certificate in favour of 

 their being equal to coffee, but declined, and recommended 

 that, after steeping, to remove the bitter principle, they should 

 be sold for cattle. He also added that he had seen an in- 

 genious apparatus for making artificial coffee-berries from 

 chicory and other substances ; it was something like a bullet- 

 mould, and patented by Messrs. Duckworth of Liverpool. 



The chicory itself sold is not always pure. The Board of 

 Inland Revenue have found, on chemical examination in dif- 

 ferent samples, beans, rye, oats (roasted and ground), caramel 

 or burnt sugar, oxide of iron and orange berries. 



The principle contained in coffee, remarks Dr. Letheby, 

 may be considered as essential to life, inasmuch as all nations 



