Of the Excellent Qualities of Coffee. 631 



in England, and where the preparation of it has not 

 been controlled by the laws. When complaints are 

 made that the coffee is too weak, they are never at a 

 loss for a remedy for that evil ; and when it has once 

 been established, as a rule in the family, that one ounce 

 of ground coffee is indispensably necessary to make a 

 cup of good strong coffee, their point is gained. 



But before we can determine with certainty how 

 much ground coffee is necessary in order to make a 

 cup of good coffee, we must ascertain the contents 

 of a coffee-cup ; and as the sizes of coffee-cups are very 

 different in different countries, and even vary consider- 

 ably in the same country, we must begin by adopting 

 some certain size to serve as a standard. 



The size most commonly to be met with in England 

 and in France is a cup which contains 83 cubic inches, 

 English measure, when filled quite full to the brim ; 

 when this cup is made perfectly cylindrical within, and 

 just as high as it is wide, it will be 2 T \ English inches 

 in diameter, and consequently 2 T \ inches in height 

 internally. 



One gill or one quarter of a wine pint of liquor will 

 fill this cup to within three tenths of an inch of the 

 level of its brim, and that quantity of coffee will weigh 

 1820 grains Troy, or something more than four ounces 

 avoirdupois, or more exactly 4^ ounces. 



As a gill is a measure well known in England, I 

 shall adopt it as a standard measure for a cup of coffee ; 

 and, as it is inconvenient to fill coffee-cups quite full to 

 the brim, I shall propose coffee-cups to be made of the 

 form and dimensions they now commonly have, or of 

 a size proper for containing 8| cubic inches of liquor 

 when filled quite full to the brim. 



