212 



COFFEE. 



The per capita consumption of coffee in the iTnited Kingdom 

 is very small, tea being the favorite beverage, the consumption of 

 which in 1879 was 160,652,187 pounds, or 4.80 pounds per head ; 

 and in 1880, 158,576,334 pounds, or 4.66 pounds per head. The 

 consumption of coffee between the years 1843 and 1880, inclusive, 

 is given in the following table : 



Consumption in United Kingdom, 1843-80, inclusive. 



" If we examine closely the statistics of coffee-consumption in 

 England," remarks Mr. Simmonds, " we find that in the first four 

 years of the century it was only an ounce per head ; in the five 

 years ending 1809 it averaged three ounces. It then increased in 

 the next quinquennial period to six ounces, at which proportion 

 it remained steady till 1825-29, when it advanced to eleven 

 ounces, increased in the next five years to fifteen ounces, averaged 

 about a pound per head for the following ten years, and then 

 kept steady at about a pound and a quarter till 1861, since 

 which period it has been gradually declining contemporaneously 

 with the increased consumption of tea, and notwithstanding a re- 

 duction of duty." In 1880 we find that the people of England 

 were using nearly five pounds of tea to each pound of coffee con- 

 sumed. 



