132 



POPULAR ECONOMIC BOTANY. 



The coffee-berry is always prepared for use by roasting ; 

 in this state it is not only more agreeable^ but its peculiar 

 power of stimulating the nervous system is increased. This 

 property has long been supposed to reside in a peculiar 

 substance which has been separated both from the berries 

 and the leaves of the plants^ and until lately was described 

 as a peculiar principle^ under the name of Caffeine ; it is 

 now however believed to be identical with the Theine of tea- 

 leaves. Dr. Gardner has recommended the coffee-leaf as a 

 substitute for that of the tea-plant^ and examples of leaves, 

 prepared for the purpose, were exhibited at the Exhibition 

 of 1851 ; but the coffee-bush would receive too much injury 

 from the loss of its leaves to make it desirable to carry out 

 this proposition. The quantity of coffee imported is enor- 

 mous : the total amount imported in 1850 was estimated at 

 22,000 tons, of the value of £566,822 ; considerable quan- 

 tities are again exported to the States of Europe and our 

 colonies in Australia. 



Like tea, coffee has been much imitated, and there are 

 numerous substitutes and adulterations ; of these, the most 

 important is Chicory, a dark-brown powder, made from the 

 roasted roots of the Cichorium Intyhus, a handsome com- 

 posite plant, indigenous to the temperate parts of Europe. 



