Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July  1895. 
Editorial. 
375 
"Oxid  of  calomel"  is  a  new  compound  to  us,  and  "bichlorid  of  mercury" 
is  without  parallel  as  an  illustration  of  ancient  nomenclature  and  modern 
reform  spelling  of  chemical  terms. 
Where  were  the  chemists  in  the  meeting  that  such  incongruous  statements 
were  allowed  to  go  unchallenged  ? 
COFFEE  OR  CHICORY. 
Under  the  title  of  "  Chicory  in  Belgium,"  Consul  Henry  C.  Morris,  in  Con* 
sular  Report  No.  169,  page  157,  gives  some  statistics  concerning  the  exportation 
of  chicory  from  that  country,  which  should  engage  the  attention  of  every  one 
in  this  country  who  is  interested  in  maintaining  our  food  supply  at  a  reasonable 
standard.  The  consul  evidently  looks  on  the  increased  demand  for  chicory  in 
this  country  as  commendable,  while  we  are  inclined  to  take  the  opposite 
view. 
Chicory  has  rather  a  bad  name  among  pharmacists  because  it  occasionally 
masquerades  as  taraxacum.  It  has  long  been  used  as  a  cheap  adulterant  and 
substitute  for  coffee  in  England  and  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  the  result 
is  that  one  rarely  gets  in  those  places  the  delicious  cup  of  coffee  that  he  is- 
accustomed  to  in  the  United  States. 
In  England  the  substitution  and  admixture  has  been  carried  to  such  an  extent 
that  coffee  has,  to  a  large  extent,  given  way  to  tea,  which  has  become  the  pop- 
ular beverage. 
In  the  United  States,  on  the  contrary,  coffee  is  the  more  popular  of  the  two, 
because  here  it  is  the  custom  of  many  consumers  to  buy  the  coffee  in  an  un~ 
ground  condition  and  either  have  it  ground  at  once  in  their  presence,  or  grind 
it  at  home  as  needed.  Of  course  this  does  not  apply  to  boarding  houses  and 
hotels,  where  cheaper  grades  are  often  employed,  which  means  an  admixture 
of  chicory  or  some  other  cheap  material. 
It  is  safe  to  say  that  no  consumer  of  coffee  ever  goes  to  his  grocer  and  de- 
mands chicory,  or  a  mixture  of  that  substance  and  coffee.  Chicory  yields  a 
black,  astringent  infusion,  which  is  devoid  the  stimulating  and  aromatic  prop- 
erties that  are  a  necessary  part  of  coffee. 
All  the  statements  about  chicory  being  a  healthy  drink,  recommended  by  the 
medical  profession  and  beneficial  to  those  suffering  from  disorders  of  the 
stomach,  are  fairy  tales  invented  by  those  commercially  interested  in  the  sub- 
stitution of  it  for  coffee. 
The  yearly  chicory  crop  of  Belgium  amounts  to  about  350,000  tons,  of  which 
4,000  tons  are  sent  to  the  United  States.  The  growth  of  the  demand  for  this 
adulterant  in  this  country  may  be  seen  by  the  value  of  the  imports  of  it  from 
Belgium  for  five  years  as  follows: 
1889  11,166  dollars. 
1890   39,440  »-[ 
1891  80,074  " 
1S92  78,295 
1893  129,662 
The  report  of  Consul  Morris  has  already  called  forth  some  criticism  in  one  of 
our  leading  magazines,  but  the  newspapers,  as  a  rule,  have  echoed  a  favorable 
