144 THE JfEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE PHILIPPINES 



limb cleft in 4 rounded lobes. The plant is so well known 

 that further description would be superfluous. 



Coffea Arabica, L. 



JSTojr. YuLG. — Cafe, Sp.; Coffee, Eng. 



Uses. — The infusion of roasted and ground coffee seeds con- 

 stitutes a beverage of Arabic origin, but now common all over 

 the world. In the Philippines, where a few years ago the 

 coffee plant was only cultivated in gardens, the harvest has 

 assumed such proportions that it now constitutes one of the 

 greatest sources of agricultural wealth. Its use is becoming 

 more general every day and the discovery of its alkaloid 

 " caffeine " the therapeutical use of which is also steadily in- 

 creasing, has given new importance to the seed on account of 

 its increasing demand in the drug trade. When newly har- 

 vested its taste is not very agreeable, for it needs considerable 

 time — 2 or 3 years — in which to dry completely, before it ac- 

 quires the aromatic properties and the savor of which it is sus- 

 ceptible. General Morin relates an incident of having drunk 

 a delicious infusion of coffee made from authentic Moka that 

 had been kept for fifty years, of course under ideal conditions 

 of preservation. 



In civilized countries coffee is an article of prime necessity 

 as a food ; here we shall consider it therapeutically under two 

 heads, as a tonic-stimulant and as an antiseptic. As caffeine is 

 the principle that acts upon the heart we shall consider the 

 cardiac properties of coffee under the head of that alkaloid, so 

 important that it may best be studied separately. 



There are two preparations of coffee, the decoction used l)y 

 the Arabs and the infusion, used in Europe and adopted in the 

 Philippines. The decoction forms a tonic and aromatic drink 

 devoid of any excitant properties, but the infusion is highly 

 excitant and should not be taken in such large amounts as the 

 decoction,- for its action may be powerful enough to cause head- 



