38 Analyses of Books . [January, 
excisable articles till — -on the motion of Sir H. Peek and Mr. Pell 
— they were constituted by the late administration an ultimate 
Court of Appeal in cases of adulteration. 
The volume before us treats of tea, coffee, cocoa, sugar, and 
honey. In the section on Tea we notice with pleasure the 
statement, doubtless official, that India already furnishes consi- 
derably more than one-fifth of the gross weight imported. Con- 
cerning the composition of tea we find some valuable fadls. The 
total nitrogen present is greater than can be accounted for by 
the proportion of theine, which has been hitherto isolated, joined 
to the vegetable albumen. Hence it is fairly inferred either that 
the existing determinations of theine fall short of the truth, or 
that some other unknown nitrogenous body must be present. 
Gum, in the true sense of the term, though stated by some che- 
mists to be present to the extent of 5 to 9 per cent, was found 
practically absent in the samples examined at Somerset House. 
A small quantity, i.e., £ per cent, met with in green tea, is 
scarcely a natural constituent of the leaf, since, if common 
report belie them not, the Chinese use gummy matter in making 
up green teas. PeCtin and pedtic acid are, however, naturally 
present. The tannin of tea seems to differ from ordinary gallo- 
tannic acid, but Mr. Bell and his associates do not give any de- 
cided account of its nature. 
The illustrations of the tea-leaf and its fragments, both as 
seen with the naked eye and magnifying power, are decidedly 
good. Indeed we must here record our satisfaction with what 
may be termed the botanico-microscopic portion of the work. 
On the score of adulteration the author is certainly no alarmist. 
He gives it as his opinion that the teas found in commerce, and 
supplied to the public, have undergone a great change for the 
better. Quartz and foreign leaves are seldom present to the same 
extent as formerly, and foreign colouring-matters are neither 
applied in the same quantity nor of such varied kinds as hereto- 
fore. There is nevertheless a reference to the fadt that large 
quantities of spurious tea, such as the notorious “ Maloo mix- 
ture,” have found their way into this country at no very distant 
date. 
As regards Coffee the picture is less satisfactory. We learn 
that in spite of the increase of population, and till lately of a 
free expenditure of money, the consumption of coffee has declined 
during the last thirty years by five million pounds. This is 
doubtless due to the manner in which chicory has been foisted, 
or almost forced, upon the consumer. We must own that we 
have never been able to see any honest reason for the permission 
— due to Viscount Halifax, formerly known as Sir Charles Wood — 
to sell coffee mixed with chicory. The consumer cannot be bene- 
fited, since, if he really prefers chicory, he can buy it separately, 
and mix it with coffee in any proportion he may wish. The 
chicory-growing farmer, who, if not a tenant of Lord Halifax, 
