37°  Coffee:  Its  History  and  Commerce.  {Xmkt^i*S?*' 
Table  No.  4.— NET  IMPORTS,  TOTAL  VALUE,  AVERAGE  VALUE  PER  POUND  AND 
PER  CAPITA  CONSUMPTION  DURING  CERTAIN  YEARS,  1850-1901. 
Year  ending  June  30th. 
Net  Imports 
in  Pounds. 
Value  of  Net 
Imports  in 
Dollars. 
Average  Value 
of  Imports— 
Cts.  per  lb. 
Per  Capita 
Consumption 
in  U.  S.  in  lbs. 
129,791,466 
9,918,472 
7*6 
5 '60 
I75,i5°.44° 
15,486,423 
8-8 
6'43 
182,049,527 
19,615,106 
10*8 
5'8 
84,316,045 
5,525,653 
6-6 
2-4 
1870  
231,173,574 
23,824,043 
10-3 
6-o 
311,136,651 
49,3H,334 
I5'8 
7-08 
1880  
440,128,838 
59,416,196 
I3'5 
878 
1885  
.  539,264,356 
43,389,270 
8-2 
9*60 
490,161,900 
76,750,979 
i6-o 
7-83 
643,234,766 
94,599,880 
147 
9  "33 
748,800,771 
48,777,126 
6-5 
9'8i 
854,871,310* 
62,861,499* 
7*3* 
10.10* 
*  Gross  imports. 
Rank  of  Coffee  among  our  Imports. — In  value  coffee  is  near  the 
front  among  our  imports.  It  usually  holds  second,  third  or  fourth 
place.  Sugar  generally  holds  first  place  ;  silk,  coffee  and  wool  hold- 
ing second,  third  and  fourth  places.  In  recent  years  the  imports  of 
wool  have  dwindled,  and  various  other  articles  exceed  in  value  the 
value  of  the  wool  imported. 
Table  No.  5. — IMPORTS  OF  SOME  IMPORTANT  ARTICLES  IN  MILLIONS 
OF  DOLLARS. 
Calendar  Year. 
Sugar. 
Silk. 
(Raw  &  Mfd.) 
Coffee. 
Wool. 
(Raw  &  Mfd.) 
90- 
60-9 
84-4 
69-4 
1895  . 
67-9 
60 -6 
96'5 
94-1 
79'6 
69-6 
70-1 
29-6 
VII.  CHEMISTRY. 
It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  great  table  beverages — coffee,  tea, 
cocoa  and  yerba  mate  (also  kola  and  guarana) — -agree  in  having  in 
their  composition  the  alkaloid  theine  (caffeine),  or  the  analogous 
one,  theobromine  in  cocoa.  All  have  also  tannic  compounds,  and 
in  each  the  taste  is  principally  due  to  extremely  small  quantities  of 
essential  oil.    Richter  gives  the  percentages  of  theine  as  follows  : 
