182 COFFEE. 



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

 of germination ; the seedsman walking through the inundated fisld, 

 scatters the seed with his iiand as '.'sual, the rice immediately sink* 

 to the bottom, and may even pencorate 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 off 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 eflfectually 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 employed. In Pied- 

 mont, the usual return from a rice-field is reckoned at about 50 for 1 

 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. 



Thrqp kinds of rice yielded, on analysis, the following quantities 

 of— 



Carolina. Piedmont. Rice. 



Starch 89.5 90.1 86.9 



Gluten, albumen, &c 3.8 3.9 7.5 



Fattymatters 0.2 0.3 0.8 



Sugar (glucose ?) 0.3 0.1 > «. 



Gum 0.7 O.U •* 



Woody tissue 5.1 5.1 3.4 



Phosphate of lime 0.4 0.4; «« 



Chloride of potassium, phosphate of ditto, &c. J '_ 



100.0 100 U 100.0 



M. Payen's analysis indicates a proportion of azote, the double of 

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

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

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

 exactly with M. Payen's valuation. 



Coffee, {Coffea Arahica.) The habit of using the infusion of 

 coffee appears to have been introduced into Europe about the middle 

 of the sixteenth century. The first public estabiisfhments for the sale 

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

 use of coffee remained for a long time coniiaed to the East ; but b 



