CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF COFFEE. 173 



of light and air — agencies whicli promote chemical changes in the 

 plant, and so effect the elaboration of those complex organic sub- 

 stances on which the activity of vegetables depends. On the other 

 hand, it must be manifest that, as the roots are removed from the 

 influence of these powerful agencies, they cannot be so richly 

 endowed with active properties ; and, indeed, there are but few 

 roots which contain either alkaloid or volatile oil — the constitu- 

 ents which give to coffee its peculiar virtues. The distinction, 

 therefore, between the properties of the seeds and roots of plants 

 is very important, and it is especially so in the case before us. 



" The infusion of the one is heavy, mawkish, and nearly des- 

 titute of aroma ; that of the other is light, fragrant, and refreshing. 

 " Coffee contains, as already shown, at least three active prin- 

 ciples, viz. : the volatile oil, the tanniu, and the alkaloid caffeine ; 

 in chicoiy there are no analogous constituents. 



" Coffee exerts on the system marked and highly important 

 physiological effects, of a beneficial character. There is no proof 

 that chicory exerts any one of these effects, while it is very ques- 

 tionable whether the properties which it does possess are not 

 really hurtful." 



As to nutritiveness, chicory possesses only about one-half as 

 much nitrogenous substance as coffee ; and even that in no way bene- 

 fits the drinker of the decoction, as these substances are almost 

 entirely insoluble in water and are thrown away with the dregs. 

 But, granting that a man should, for economy's sake, be content 

 to drink a mixture of coffee and chicory, he could not with any 

 certainty obtain even this. It has been proved that this substance, 

 so largely used for adulterating purposes, is itself largely adul- 

 terated ; in fact, all of the ingredients which have been detected 

 in adulterated coffee, and which we have before enumerated, have 

 also beeji discovered in powdered chicory. Parsnips, carrots, peas, 

 and similar vegetables are chiefly used in this sophistication, and 

 a compound is thus formed which can be sold under the market 

 price at which genuine chicory can be had. Chicory is not grown 

 to any extent in the United States, the attempts at culture and 

 manufacture having given a poor, woody product, much inferior 

 to that of foreign growth. The article is imported from Europe, 

 where it is raised principally in Gei-many, France, Belgium, and 



