838 COFFEE. 
nearly ripe, the water is turned off, lest the fruit | 
should be rendered too succulent. In places | 
much exposed to the south, the trees are planted 
in rows, and are shaded from the otherwise too 
intense heat of the sun, by a branching kind of 
poplar-tree. When the fruit has attained its 
maturity, cloths are placed under the trees, and 
upon these the labourers shake it down. They 
afterwards spread the berries on mats, and ex- 
pose them to the sun to dry. The husk is then | 
broken off by large and heavy rollers of wood or 
iron. When the coffee has been thus cleared of 
its husk, it 1s again dried in the sun, and, lastly, 
winnowed with a large fan, for the purpose of 
clearing it from the pieces of husks with which 
| it is intermingled. A pound of coffee is gener- 
| ally more than the produce of one tree; but a 
tree in great vigour will produce three or four 
pounds.—The best coffee is imported from Mocha, 
on the Red sea. This kind, which is denominated 
Mocha and Turkey coffee, is of a better quality 
| than any which the Huropean colonists are able 
| to raise, owing, as it is supposed, to the differ- 
ence of climate and soil in which it grows. It is 
packed in large bales, each containing a number 
of smaller bales, and, when good, appears fresh, 
and of a greenish-olive colour. The coffee next 
in esteem to this is raised in Java and the Hast 
Indies; .and that of lowest price, in the West In- 
dies and Brazil. When stowed in ships, with 
rum, pepper, or other articles, it is said that cof- 
fee contracts a rank and unpleasant flavour ; and 
this has been assigned as a reason of the inferior- 
ity of that which is imported from the European 
plantations. — The quantity of coffee annually 
supplied by Arabia is suppesed to be upwards of 
14,000,000 of pounds. Before the commencement 
of the French revolution, the island of St. Domingo 
| alone exported more than 70,000,000 of pounds 
per annum ; and, at the present day, such is the 
fertility of this island, that sufficient coffee is 
raised to reduce the price greatly in all parts of 
the civilized world. Almost all the Mohamme- 
dans drink coffee at least twice a-day, very hot, 
and without sugar. 
The excellence of coffee depends, in a great 
measure, on the skill and attention exercised in 
roasting it. If it be too little roasted, it is de- 
void of flavour, and if too much, it becomes acrid, 
and has a disagreeable burnt taste. In Europe, 
it is usually roasted in a cylindrical tin box, per- 
forated with numerous holes, and fixed upon a 
spit, which runs lengthwise through the centre, 
and is turned by a jack, or by the hand. Coffee 
is used in the form either of an infusion or de- 
coction, of which the former is decidedly prefer- 
able, both as regards flavour and strength. Cof- 
fee, as very commonly prepared by persons un- 
acquainted with its nature, is a decoction, and is 
hoiled for some time, under a mistaken notion 
that the strength is not extracted unless it be 
boiled. But the fact is just the reverse. The 
fine aromatic oil, which produces the flavour and 
COGW OOD-TREE. 
strength of coffee, is dispelled and lost by boiling, 
and a mucilage is extracted at the same time, 
which also tends to make it flat and weak. The 
best modes are, to pour boiling water through 
the coffee in a biggin or strainer, which is found 
to extract nearly all the strength; or to pour 
boiling water upon it, and set it upon the fire, 
not to exceed 10 minutes. Prepared in either 
way, it is fine and strong. As a medicine, strong 
coffee is a powerful stimulant and cordial, and, 
in paroxysms of the asthma, is one of the best 
remedies ; but it should be very strong, and 
made with almost as much coffee as water. In 
faintness or exhaustion from labour and fatigue, || 
and from sickness, coffee is one of the most cor- 
dial and delicious restoratives. There are coffee- 
machines, in which the water is boiled, and the 
steam penetrates the coffee, and extracts, to a | 
great degree, the fine aroma. Immediately after, 
the boiling water is poured over it. Thus the 
best coffee is made. As we have already said, in 
Europe, coffee is generally roasted in a cylinder; | 
in Asia, however, open pans or tin plates are 
used, and, if the time allows, a boy is employed, 
who picks out every bean, when it has reached 
the right degree of brownness. The same is 
done by some French people. The second differ- 
ence in the Asiatic way of preparing coffee is, 
that they pound the beans, and do not grind 
them, much preferring the former mode. In 
Marseilles, we have seen coftee likewise pounded. 
Whether this is really preferable, we do not ven- | 
ture to decide; but experience has taught us | 
that the Asiatic coffee is, on the whole, much — 
better than the European. The difference is | 
probably owing to the different way of roasting. 
The Turks and Arabs boil the coffee, it is true, | 
but they boil each cup by itself, and only for a_ 
moment, so that the effect is, in fact, much the 
same as that of infusion, and not like that of de- | 
coction. They do not separate the coffee itself | 
from the infusion, but leave the whole in the cup. | 
It improves the beverage very much to roast 
and grind the coffee just before it is used. | 
COFFEE-TREE (Kuntucxy). See Bonpvc | 
(Harpy). | 
COFFIN-BONE. The proper or characteristic || 
bone of the horse’s foot. It is wholly enclosed in | 
the hoof, fills the fore-part of it, and lies closely 
within it as if within a coffin. It is round above, 
where it receives the little pastern ; but becomes 
broader and thinner towards the bottom. It has | 
an open, porous texture, somewhat like a piece 
of loaf-sugar, and is easily pierced; and, in con- 
sequence of this peculiar texture, it frequently 
and facilely receives injuries from small sharp 
substances on the streets or roads, but just as 
facilely recovers from the hurtful effects of con- 
tusions and wounds. 
COGWOOD-TREE,—botanically Laurus chlo- 
roxylon. An evergreen, tropical, timber-tree, of 
the laurel genus. It grows wild in the West 
Indies; and when full-grown, has an average 
