156  Adulterations  of  Coffee,  Tea  and  Pepper.  {^fSw-sSSf: 
the  plant  has  become  fully  developed  it  has  scarcely  any  roots,  for 
these  are  gradually  destroyed,  and  the  plant  draws  its  nourishment 
from  the  soil  only  by  small  adventitious  roots  which  could  not  be  em- 
ployed in  medicine.  But,  contrary  to  the  other  species  enumerated, 
and  of  which  the  root  can  be  prepared  and  employed,  this  developer 
above  ground  a  stem  and  cylindro-conical  branches,  20  or  30  centi- 
metres  high,  and  of  the  thickness  of  an  arm  or  a  leg.  These  are  the 
only  portions  which,  cleansed  from  the  so-called  bark,  divided  trans- 
versely and  longitudinally,  and  properly  dried  and  prepared,  can  be 
used  in  medicine.  They  bear  leaves,  and  after  the  fall  of  these,, 
there  remains  on  the  surface  only  the  brown  dried  base  of  the  petioles., 
together  with  the  remains  of  the  ochrea  ;  these  vestiges  together  con- 
stitute the  pretended  bark. 
"  In  the  axil  of  each  of  these  aerial  leaves  there  is  necessarily  a 
bud.  These  acquire  frequently  a  considerable  development,  and  are 
elongated  into  leafy  branches  ;  such  is  the  cause  of  the  ramification  of 
the  aerial  portions  of  this  plant.  Each  of  thes  buds,  detached  at  a 
suitable  season,  will  in  its  turn  easily  take  root  from  its  base,  and 
may  thus  be  used  to  multiply  the  plant.  Since  each  of  these  buds 
sends  off  a  collection  of  cellular,  fibrous  and  vascular  elements,  which 
it  directs  obliquely  across  the  true  fleshy,  spongy  bark,  towards  the 
ligneous  axis  of  the  stem,  this,  as  well  as  the  large  branches,  is  per- 
meated by  oblique  systems  having  the  same  structure  as  the  branches. 
The  presence  in  the  true  Thibet  rhubarb  of  the  stellate  spots  which 
are  seen  in  sections,  answers,  therefore,  precisely  to  the  morphologi- 
cal nature  of  the  portion  employed  as  a  medicament." — Pharm.  Journ. 
(Lond.),  Feb.  28,  1874. 
ADULTERATIONS  OF  COFFEE,  TEA  AND  PEPPER. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  Chemical  Society,  London,  Mr.  J.  Bell 
gave  some  interesting  particulars  about  the  adulteration  of  these 
articles. 
The  adulteration  of  coffee  can  only  be  successfully  accomplished 
after  it  is  roasted  and  ground,  but  has,  perhaps,  been  carried  to  as 
great  an  extent  as  in  almost  any  other  article  of  food.  A  very  sim- 
ple way  of  detecting  the  presence  of  chicory  in  coffee  is  to  sprinkle 
a  little  of  it  on  the  surface  of  water  in  a  test  tube  or  wine  glass,  when 
each  particle  of  chicory  becomes  surrounded  with  an  amber  colored 
