St. Paul daily globe., 1888-01-29
A CUP OF COFFEE.
Origin, Growth, Effects of and In
imriRS From the Aromatic Rerry

Origin, Growth, Effects OF and In
juries From the Aromatic Berry.
'In searching for the origin of Coffee"
said the professor, ''authorS have agreed
to assign its birthplace to Ethiopia.
When it was carried to Arabia
it soon became naturaliZed. In
search for the earliest mention of
it, one writer, inspired with that
reverence which has sought to find out
all things in the sacred book, assures
us that coffee is mentioned in the his
tory of King David, where it is stated
that this was the potion which was
offered by the hands of fair Abigail to
calm the excited monarch. The proof
urged in favor of this biblical claim is
that the drink offered was prepared
from something roasted, says the San
Francisco Professor.
''While visiting Paris" continued the
lecturer, 81 was agreeably surprised to
find i'll museum portion Of the orig
inal coffee shrub which was brought to
France. Probably no more precious sam
pie of this berry exists in the world.
Coffee, at the time of its introduction
for from $50 to $25 pound. Such
price led to its general culti-
walton, and soon, instead of being
the monopoly of Arabia, whence
it was first derived, it was grown in
the East and West Indies, Central and
South America, and now large amounts
of it are grown in Java, CeylOn, Mex
leo, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Brazil.
The production of the latter country is
the largest, being about 4,500,000 quin-
tails annually, one sack generally hold
ing about one quintal. While coffee
can only be cultivated in warm eli
seed is first planted in
cool, shaded nursery, the in
FAINT plants being scrupulously screened
from the rays of the sun. 1t
is next transplanted to the fields des-
tined Off its growth, and there it is
carefully cultivated for nearly five
years before the product is sufficiently
abundant to be remunerative. The
shrub usually reaches height of from
twelve to fifteen feet and is well COW
cred by leaves of dark, glossy green.
Small flowers of snOw-white color
spring from the stem at the foot of the
ance is exceedingly charming. The
flowers are soon transformed into round,
green berries, which, ripening, pre-
sent the appearance of led cherries.
From two to three crops of mature ber-
rieS may be gathered annually. The
work OF preparing the berries for mar
ket is done partly by hand and partly
by machinery. Each berry should have
two grains on it, yet sometimes but ono
is found, and this one is especially
priced and commands the highest price.
The pulp of the berry is sweet to the
taste.
"A chemical analysis of coffee, after
being burned, shows that it contains 20
per cent of water and about so per cent
of cellulOse-a substance resembling
starch-and grape sugar. The agents
which especially distinguish it are caf-
feline and cOffeone. The former belongs
to that group OF chemical agents named
alkalOids. Coffeone is volatile oil, the
result of an essential change in coffee
produced by roasting. To this subtle
and fugitive principal the aroma
OF coffee is due, and in roasting this oil
permeates the entire grain, bat if the
heat be too great, or continued too long,
it is dissipated and lost. Experiments
show that caffeine and coffeone have
different effects On the animal body, the
caffeine acting as a transient stimulant,
while the cotfeone is more prolonged in
its effects and exercises a sedative or
tranquilizing action. But in drinking
an ordinary cup of coffee these two ac-
tions are obtained, stimulation preced-
ing for fifteen minutes the stage of
SedatiOn or repoSe."