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countries, where ifc can be sold far under the price of even 

 the lowest grade coffees. 



The manufacture of a factitious coffee from roasted chicory- 

 root would seem to have originated in Holland, where it has 

 been used for more than a century. It remained a secret 

 until 1801, when it was introduced into France by M. 

 Orban of Liege, and M. Giraud of Homing, a short distance 

 from Valenciennes. This root is not superior to many others 

 which possess sweet and mucous principles, but of all the 

 plants which have been proposed as substitutes for coffee, and 

 which, when roasted and steeped in boiling water, yield an 

 infusion resembling the berry, it is the only one which has 

 maintained its ground. The French, not satisfied with 

 chicory, have recently introduced acorn coffee and roasted 

 beetroot. The beet, it is asserted, besides communicating its 

 hygienic qualities, also helps to sweeten the beverage. This 

 new coffee is called " cafe de betterave," as the old was 

 called " cafe chicoree." These distinctions will soon become 

 as puzzling as those in America, which led the Irish waiter to 

 ask if the gentleman would have coffee-tay or tay-tay. 



Mr. G-eorge Phillips, when giving evidence before Mr. 

 Scholefield's Parliamentary Committee on Adulteration, in 

 1855, stated that, prior to the year 1832, little was heard of 

 the use of chicory in this country, but in the subsequent 

 three years its use had gradually so increased that the Board 

 of Inland [Revenue was obliged to take steps against the sale. 

 " I have no doubt (he adds), from my own experience, that a 

 very large bulk of the public prefer the mixture. That, how- 

 ever, is a matter of taste. The trade contend that good coffee, 

 mixed with one-eighth part of chicory, and sold at a moderate 

 price, makes a better beverage than ordinary coffee would do 

 at the same price, and the great mass of the public prefer it. 

 Chicory sold as coffee yields a certain profit, but probably it 

 equalises itself in the general competition of trade. There 



