( 3 *^ ) 
The Stem of the Tree next the Surface is three Inches in 
Girt, and at the Top an Inch and three quarters. 
The Root {preads nineteen Inches Diameter, and is very full of 
fmall Roots. The larger Roots were of a dark brown Colour; 
but the Fihrillie very white, and pretty tough j and Vvdien broken 
they fmell very like Liquorice, but have little or no Tafte, The 
whole Root is fo ramify ’d, and each Ramification fo full of Fi~ 
IrilU, that it looks like a fliockey Head of Hair; and it was very 
difficult to clear them of the Earth. 
In no Author, that'l have yet met with, 
is there fo much as one Word about the Root 
of the Coffee Plant. Pomel indeed tells 
us of one that was eaten by the Rats, near 
Paris', but befides that this Story is in all 
Probability falfe, we are as far to feek a- 
bout the Defcription of this Root as ever. 
Of all the Europeans who have travelled 
into Arabia Felix, where the young Coffee 
Plants are every where tranfplanted at cer- 
tain times of the Year, it is a Wonder 
that none has ever had the Curiofity, ei- 
ther by ocular Infpeffion, or at leaf!: from 
the Accounts of the Inhabitants, to inform 
himfelf what kind of Roots they have. 
And it is a much greater Wonder flill, that 
during a Courfe of fo many Years, in which 
there have been Plants fent to all Places, from 
the Amflerdam Garden, that no Botanift 
who has had an Opportunity of examining 
the Roots, has ever publifh’d a Defcription 
of them. 
The Trunk and Branches, having a 
nearer Relation to the Fruit, and being dif- 
coverable with much lefs Trouble than the 
Root, have not been fo much neglefted by 
Authors. 
Alpims has faid nothing in particular a- 
bout either of thefe; but fuppofing the Fi- 
gure he has given us of a Branch to be in 
any meafure like the Plant it v/as taken from, 
we may infer from thence, that it decreafes 
very fenfibly in Bignefs, as it removes from 
the Trunk, till at Top it appears to be not 
much thicker than the Foot Stalks of the 
Leaves : That it is not quite flrait, but 
gently bent two contrary Ways in form of 
an Italian f ; and that there are three leffer 
Branches arifing from if, the uppermoft a- 
bout the Middle, and all of the fame Figure 
with it. 
From this Time, all the Way down to 
"Monf. we meet with nothing but 
repeated Copies of Alpinus's Figure, with- 
out any Defcription ; and even this Author 
has only told us that the Branches age fmall 
and limber ; referring for all the other Parti- 
culars about them, as well as about theT runk, 
to the Figure placed at the Beginning of 
his Book ; which is only a good Copy of 
that of Alpinns. 
Sir Hans Sloane's Figure is likewife taken 
from a Branch, and differs extremely from 
all that ever I have feen in the Number and 
Difpofition of the fmaller Twigs that arife 
from it. 
About the Defcription of it, the Author 
tells us that it was taken from a Tree feven 
or eight Foot high ; that the Branch it felf 
w'as five Foot long, and cover’d with agrey' 
almofl: fmooth Bark. The Wood is white, 
and the Pith not very large. The Twigs 
are cover’d with a darker colour’d very 
fmooth Bark, and arife oppofite to one an- 
other by Pairs, ftanding crofs to one ano- 
ther, coming out of oppofite Sides of the 
Branch, or the two Pairs next to one ano- 
ther, cutting each other at right Angles. 
The Branch from whence this Defcrip- 
tion is taken, was dried ; but neverthelefs, 
he fays, it will every way agree to thofe of 
a growing Tree ; JAv.Clyves, who brought 
it to England, having inform’d him of eve- 
ry Particular of it. 
Monf. De JujJieft tells us, that in the 
Year 1715, the Coffee Tree in the Royal 
Garden at Patis was about five foot long, 
and the Trunk as thick as a Man’s Thumb. 
The Branches arife at certain Difiances, al- 
ways in Pairs croffing one another: They 
are very limber, round, knotted and cover’d, 
as well as the Trunk, with a very thin 
white Bark. The Wood of them is pret- 
ty hard, and of a fweet Tafie. The lower 
Branches are commonly fimple, and arife 
more horizontally than the upper ones, in 
which the Trunk ends, and which are fub- 
divided into leffer Twigs fpringing from the 
AU of the Leaves in the fame Order. 
Ealentini refers to the Count Marfigli for 
an Account of this Tree, and has only co- 
py’d one of the Figures of that Author. 
Monf. La Roque, from Informations ta- 
ken in Arabia Felix, informs us that the 
T ree which bears Coffee is from fix to twelve 
Feet in Height, and from ten to fifteen 
Inches 
