[Dec, 1 , 
47*3 Proceedings of Learned Societies. 
persons concerned. A dinner,consisting 
of tish and fowls, of boiled meat and 
n-asted, ,and of several kinds of vege¬ 
tables, can be dressed with one very 
small fire. The fire-place is at the bot¬ 
tom on one Side, and I'roin this a soot- 
funne! is carried into the chimney, winch 
fuTiiiel is easily taken down and cleansed ; 
there are also air-pipes to carry from the 
fire-place (he hot air into the roaster, 
and a pipe from the roaster to carry away 
the hot air; so that there is a continual 
current of air passing through the roaster, 
which prevents, it is said, the meat, 
poultry, &c. from any strong taste, that 
IS common to almost all baked meat. 
The roaster is converted into an oven, 
by first well heating it in the usual w ay, 
and then entirely closing the back-air 
pipe, and likewise partly closing the 
front-air pipe, and keeping a small fire 
in the grate. The boiler is placed just 
over the file, and from this the steam is 
conveyed to all the parts of the appa¬ 
ratus that require itj There is this ad- 
vantage attending the patent steam- 
kitchen, which is, that there is at all 
times plenty of hot water after the 
cooking is over, which is fit for every 
purpose, being perfectly clean as well as 
iior. ■ The apparatus is not likely to be 
out of order, and is readily managed by 
common cook. 
J5R. WAITER BOCHFORT^S (2d, EISHOPS- 
GATE street), for uu impi’ovtd J\Ie- 
tfiod of preptn'iiig Cofe, bp Cotiipres- 
.v'ln. in order to, keep it in n State of 
Ter-fection, ami readp j'or Immediate 
t-se. 
i'ne method consists in compressing 
ths coffee at the time of roasting, and 
while !t is hot, by means of a very pow- 
erfni engine, or press. While the coffee 
is in that stare, being reduced to powder, 
the oil, which is a constituent parr, 
causes it to bind, and the pressure pre¬ 
vents die strength and jpeculiar flavour 
from evaporating, a circumstance that 
uniformly happens to coffee ground in 
the common.way, and not immediately 
used. We do not know upon what data 
the patentee builds, when he calculates 
that coffee, prepared by the usual me¬ 
thod, loses one-eighth of its virtues in 
cooling, after the operation of roasting ; 
and one-eighth in the act of grinding; 
which losses are prevented by the me¬ 
thod described in Mr. Rochfords spe¬ 
cification : hence, three ounces of this 
coffee will produce the same effect, as 
four ounces of coffee prepared in the 
usual w^ay. 
Remarks.— Great pains are now 
taking by persons interested in the con¬ 
sumption of West Indian produce, to 
obtain a more general and extended sale 
of coffee. Peviiaps nothing would tend 
more to,effect this object than to render 
it as easily made as tea. Attempts of 
this kind have been made before : Ma¬ 
dame Rose, an ingenious foreigner, some 
years since, gave the public a sort of ex¬ 
tract of coffee, but it was found to be too 
much of a syrup, generally to please the 
palate ; and we do not know whether the 
manufacture is at present carried on. 
If Mr. Roclifort's invention performs 
what it professes, it obviates that diffi¬ 
culty, and may come in aid of our WesS 
Indian commerce. 
PROCEEDINGS OF PUBLIC SOCIETIES. 
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF 
LONDOX. 
of the Piteh Lake of the Island 
of Trincdrd; bp IDCicholas N loekt, 
AF.D. Honoraip. Uember of the So- 
H:tp. 
FI NO desirous to visit tire csle- 
g ^ brated lake of pitch, previously to 
n V departure from the Island of Tri- 
>''{‘ad, I embarked with that iutention in 
tks? month of October, 1807, in a small 
n'ssol at Fort Spain. After a pleasant 
of ah'.jut tbirtv miles dowij the Gulf 
kff' Paiia. v^e arrived at the point l.i 
Braye, so called by the Frencli from ifs 
cuaracierLstic feature. It I* a cotisldef- 
able headland, about eighty feet above 
the level of tlie sea, and periiaps two 
miles long and two broad. We landed 
on the southern side of tlie point,' at the 
plantation of i\Jr. Vessigny : as the boat 
drew near the shore, I was struck with 
the appearance of a rocky hlulT, or small 
promontory of a reddrsh-brown colour, 
very different from the pitch which I had 
expected to find on the vvhtde shore. 
Upon examining tliis spot, I found it 
composed of a substance corresponding 
to tlie porcelain jasper of mineraingists, 
generally of a red colour where it had 
been ex nosed to the weather, but of light 
slatg-blue in the interior; it is a very 
liard 
