CINCHONACEiE. 363 



for the botanic gardens of Europe, but all the West India and South Ameri- 

 can plantations owe their origin to it. 



Coffee cannot be cultivated to any advantage where the temperature at any- 

 time is below 55°. The trees grow best in virgin soil, on gentle slopes, 

 and where shade can be obtained. They begin to bear when two years 

 old, and the next are in full vigour. The seeds are known to be ripe when 

 the berries assume a dark-red colour, and if not gathered will drop sponta- 

 neously. In Arabia they are not gathered, but the trees shaken over cloths 

 laid to receive the berries. These are then spread on mats and exposed to 

 the sun until perfectly dry, when the husk is broken by means of heavy 

 rollers, when the seeds are winnowed and again dried. In the West Indies 

 the berries are gathered by hand ; when a sufficient quantity is collected, they 

 are placed in the sun on terraces prepared for the purpose, in layers about 

 four inches thick; a fermentation ensues which destroys the pulp, and in 

 about three weeks they are dried. Another mode is to subject the berries at 

 once to the action of a mill, they are then dried, and then in both cases subject- 

 ed to appropriate treatment to remove the pellicle, when they are winnowed 

 and put into bags for sale. 



The varieties of coffee are very great, no two countries producing an iden- 

 tical article, and even adjoining plantations may .,differ in their product. 

 These varieties result from soil and climate, aided perhaps by some difference 

 in the mode of cultivation and preparation, as all those in this continent, as 

 before stated, arose from one stock, for it is well known that as late as 1713 

 a plant was presented to Louis XIV., by the magistrates of Amsterdam. 

 This was placed under the care of Jussieu, and it was not until some years 

 afterwards, that its progeny were carried to the French settlements in America. 



When coffee is roasted, a portion is converted into tannin by the action of 

 the heat, and a peculiar and aromatic principle is developed, the precise 

 nature of which has not been ascertained, though it is found to be also evolved 

 on the roasting of other substances, but not to an equal amount. An infu- 

 sion of unroasted coffee in boiling water is of a yellowish-green colour, but 

 becomes brown if boiled for any time. Both v roasted and raw coffee have been 

 repeatedly analyzed, but the results are not satisfactory. It has been shown 

 that the distilled water of coffee contains traces of a volatile oil ; some che- 

 mists, however, declare that the aroma depends on the volatilization of a 

 peculiar acid, whilst this is denied by others. It is at the same time probable 

 that it does depend on a volatile oil, but of an unknown character. A pecu- 

 liar principle has been found in coffee, which has been termed, caffein ; this 

 is highly azotized, and is analogous if not identical with those obtained from 

 tea, mate and chocolate, showing a curious identity in principle in the most 

 common beverages of man, though found in the most dissimilar plants. 



Medical Properties. — Raw coffee has been used as a substitute for cin- 

 chona with some success, but is seldom employed as a remedial agent. 

 When roasted, its nutritive qualities are mostly destroyed, and it becomes 

 more stimulating. A decoction of roasted coffee is powerfully antisoporific, 

 though habit has in many people counteracted this effect. It is considered in 

 India that it allays nervous irritation, and is a powerful anti-emetic {Ainslie). 

 Pringle declares that it is the best abater of periodic asthma that he has employed ; 

 to be useful it must be made very strong. As a palliative in many forms of 

 headache its powers are well known ; it has also been employed as a febri- 

 fuge in intermittents, more especially in Italy ; as a stomachic in some forms 

 of dyspepsia, though in general in this disease it aggravates the symptoms ; 

 as an astringent in diarrhoea, and in a variety of other complaints. Most 

 certainly the abuse of this beverage, when taken in too large quantities and 



