ADULTERATION OF COFFEE. 163 



carry liome from the retail grocery, in the fond belief that it is 

 coffee, may not contain more than a mere sprinHing of the aro- 

 matic berry, while the rest is made up of worthless or even nox: 

 ious substances, thrown in to make bulk and give color to the 

 decoction when made. 



All sorts of ingredients have been used in the sophistication of 

 cofEee, the range extending all the way from insipid vegetables to 

 such abominations as the haked Imer of animals. 



In the works of English chemists and the reports of Parlia- 

 mentary Committees, dating from ten to twenty-five years back, 

 we find that chicory, roasted grain, roasted peas and beans, car- 

 rots, parsnips, potatoes, acorns, mangold-wurzel, lupins, sawdust, 

 Venetian red, and fragments of the baked liver of oxen and 

 horses were severally detected in samples of so-called ground 

 coffee sold in the London shops (Hassall). So far, indeed, was 

 the practice carried, that it was scarcely possible at that time to 

 procure samples, no matter at what price, that were not largely 

 adulterated. Appropriate legislation and the enlightenment of 

 the public mind on this subject have since, to a great extent, 

 checked these practices and led to a somewhat healthier condition 

 of the coffee trade in the English market; but the evil still 

 flourishes in the United States, although, so far as I am aware, 

 nothing worse than ground peas, rye, and chicory are used for the 

 purpose of adulteration. 



The story is told of a traveller, who, stopping at a country 

 hotel somewhere between the Mississippi and the AUeghanies, 

 astonished the proprietor by engulfing cup after cup of the hotel's 

 coffee. " You seem to be very fond of coffee, sir," could not but 

 remark the host, as he tendered the stranger his fifth cup of the 

 liquid. " I am indeed, sir," replied the other, gravely, " I always 

 take one cup of coffee at breakfast, and I am still in hopes of ar- 

 riving at that quantity before I leave this table. Will you favor 

 me, sir, with another cup or two of this preparation ? " 



If that persistent coffee-drinker is yet in the land, he must 

 still very often find himself in the necessity of resorting to the 

 same expedient. 



Nor are complaints like the following unfrequently seen in the 

 public prints ; 



