we 
— 
Fune 16, 1870] 
NATURE 
127 
exhibited in the Great Exhibition of 1851, amongst which 
were roasted coffee seeds which had been divided longi- 
tudinally by a patented machine, and the folded skin 
taken out ; these broken seeds were sold under the name 
of coffee nibs. We do not see any advantage in this; but 
on the contrary, the broken seeds would be much more 
liable than whole seeds to adulteration with damaged 
berries, and this skin is so thin that it adds little to the 
weight of the coffee, and the small proportion in which it 
occurs does not affect either the pocket or the health of 
the consumer; indeed, we are told by some travellers, that 
neither the skin nor the parchment itself deteriorates the 
quality of the coffee, but rather adds to its value, for in 
some parts of Arabia the parchment is preferred before 
the seed itself. 
Therefore genuine coffee, when seen under a micro- 
scope, will exhibit an appearance similar to that shown at 
Fig. 4, with the addition, in nearly all cases, of a few small 
bodies like those at Fig. 5, scattered here and there. 
A very simple test for the presence of chicory in ground 
coffee, is to drop a little in a tumbler of clean cold water. 
Do not stir it, but if chicory is present the particles will 
immediately drop to the bottom of the tumbler, impart- 
ing at once to the water a deep amber colour ; the coffee 
particles will float for a much longer time, and the water 
{ : 
BHAT by SP 
Fic. 7.—Vascular Tissue of 
Chicory. 
Fic. 6,—Cellular Tissue of Chicory. 
will be but slightly coloured. The most satisfactory way 
of purchasing coffee, however, is in the whole state, and 
to grind it as it is wanted, when all the freshness of the 
aroma is obtained in the infusion. For examination under 
the microscope, coffee should be previously soaked in 
water, or boiled in a weak solution of potash; this both 
softens the tissues and makes the substance more trans- 
parent. For persons unacquainted with vegetable struc- 
ture, it will help them very much in determining the 
microscopical appearance of genuine roasted coffee, to 
examine first both the fresh coffee seed and the fresh 
chicory root ; for this purpose a slice should be cut from 
each as thin as possible, moistened with water, and 
placed on a glass slide with an ordinary thin glass cover- 
ing dropped on the top, and gently pressed down with 
the fingers so as to exclude all air bubbles. A half-inch 
objective may be used, and with an ordinary amount of 
perception adulterations may be detected. Other sub- 
stances than chicory may be mixed with coffee, but none 
will present such microscopical appearances as those we 
have shown to belong to genuine coffee. 
J. R. JACKSON 
NOTES 
WELL-WISHERS of the University of Oxford will rejoice to 
hear that the honorary degree of D.C. L. has been offered to Mr. 
Darwin. Thestate of Mr. Darwin’s health unfortunately pre- 
cludes him from accepting the proffered honour, but the scientific 
naturalists of this and other countries will none the less appre- 
ciate the compliment which has been paid to their great leader. 
Tt is allthe more graceful as Mr. Darwin is not an Oxford, but 
a Cambridge man, a circumstance which the University of 
Cambridge seems to have forgotten ; though by-and-by it will be 
one of her claims not to be herself forgotten. 
Dr. Hooker, F.R.S., and Professor W. H. Flower, F,R.S., 
have been appointed examiners in botany and anatomy for the 
Natural Sciences Tripos at Cambridge. The other examiners 
are Professor Miller, Sec. R.S., in mineralogy, Mr. Trotter, 
fellow of Trinity College, in chemistry and physics, Mr. Danby, 
fellow of Downing College, in geology. 
WE are glad to announce that Mr. Geikie has arrived in Eng- 
land, and is ina fair way of recovery. 
THE Sars subscription fund has now reached 343/. in Eng- 
land, and 11,666 francs in France. It is very desirable that 
intending contributors should forward their subscriptions without 
delay. 
Ir is reported that the Secretary of State for India has deter- 
mined upon establishing in this country a complete College of 
Science for civil engineers, for the education of those who are to 
be employed on the extensive) Government works in that 
country. 
ALL true lovers of science will be glad to hear of the ap- 
proaching visit to this country of Prof. Henry, the Secretary of 
the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, United States. It 
is well known how much our own celebrated electricians are 
indebted to Prof. Henry for his valuable researches in mag- 
netism and electricity, the results arrived at being freely placed 
at the disposal of all whom they might interest. We under- 
stand he is daily expected. 
THE celebrated photographer, M. Niépce de St. Victor, having 
died in very straitened circumstances, leaving a wife and two 
children totally unprovided for, a committee of French photo- 
graphers has been formed to collect a fund for their relief. Sub- 
scriptions may be forwarded to MM. Blacque and D’Eichthal, 
bankers, 19, Rue de Grammont; or to the president of the 
French Photographic Society, 9, Rue Cadet, Paris. 
In the Rev. William Hincks’s address as President of the 
Canadian Institute, we find the following sentence :—‘“‘If we 
may implicitly believe a statement in the new periodical devoted 
to natural science, NATURE, whilst the English are still discussing 
the possibility of Darwinianism being true, the Germans have so 
thoroughly adopted it that it has become the foundation for new 
systems—the starting-point for fresh inquiries. This may appear 
to most of us to be going somewhat too fast ; but then NATURE 
may be presumed to be the special organ of the extreme Dar- 
winians, and might be thought to see facts through a somewhat 
coloured medium.” It will hardly be necessary to point ont to 
our readers that we are the organ of no party, extreme or other- 
wise. Free play has been given in these pages to the expression 
of opinion by competent men of every séction or party. In so 
far as ‘‘ Darwinianism” implies rigid accuracy of observation 
and a candid consideration of all the varied phenomena of 
natural science, we trust we shall always be Darwinian as we 
hope to be Newtonian. 
A. H. GArrop was elected on the 13th inst. a Foundation 
Scholar of St. John’s College, Cambridge, for proficiency in the 
Natural Sciences ; at the same time H. Blunt and H. N. Read 
