COFFEE SUBSTITUTES. 

 Chas. D. Woods and T. H. Merrill. 



During the last few years there has been a marked increase in 

 the number of mixtures offered under different names as substi- 

 tutes for coffee. Some of the earlier mixtures contained low 

 grade coffee to give them flavor, but a quite exhaustive examina- 

 tion a year or two ago by the Connecticut Experiment Station 

 showed them to be free from adulterations of this kind and that 

 for the most part they are made from the cereal grains as 

 claimed. Because of the extravagant claims made for the nutri- 

 tive value of the decoctions prepared from these materials the 

 following analyses were undertaken. The comments here made 

 are in no wise intended to condemn these beverages but to point 

 out that the claims for great nutritive value are not founded on 

 fact. Whether hot beverages are or are not hygienic, a chemical 

 study cannot show, but from the chemical composition of the 

 infusions it is a simple task to pass upon their merits as food. 



The materials here reported upon were purchased in the open 

 market. No attempt was made to obtain samples of all of this 

 class of preparations but it is believed that those here reported 

 upon are fairly representative. 



Description of Samples. 



No. 6179. Postnm Cereal made by Postum Cereal Company, 

 limited, Battle Creek, Mich. This is probably the most exten- 

 sively advertised of any of the coffee substitutes. The following 

 is from statements on the package. 



"A toothsome and healthful beverage. Coffee sick people 

 seldom charge their ill feelings to the true cause. Analytical 

 chemistry shows the poisonous alkaloids of coffee, as in tobacco, 

 whisky and morphine. A perfectly healthy man or woman can 

 stand these for a time, but 'constant dripping wears a stone' and 



