COFFEA MAURITIANA. Lam.
C. Arabia+, 13., Willde. I O. aylvestris, C. myrtifolia, Boxb. I Cafe Marron, . . .
A plant of the Mauritius, Bourbon.— Voigt. COFFEE BERRY.
Boon, . . An., BOMBAY. Bun, Kalawa, Kapi, VERN. Kia-fi-eha, . . . CHIN. Kafi, . . . „ Eleane, . . . . EGYPT.
The coffee tree is supposed to be indigenous to the mountain regions of Enarea and Cuffa, to the south of Abyssinia, whence about the 16th century it was introduced into Arabia, in the 17th century into Ceylon and Mysore, into Mauritius and Bour bon in 1718, and Batavia in 1723, and subse quently into the Wrest Indies. Abd ul Kadar Mahomed ul Azari ul Jeziri ui Hanbali, who wrote in Egypt about A.D. 1587, relates that in the middle of the 15th century Jamal ud Din Abu Abdulla Mahomed bin Saeed tid Dubani was Kadi of Aden, and, having occasion to visit Abyssinia, he found his countrymen there drinking coffee, and on his return to Aden introduced it, whence it passed into Arabia generally. Shaikh Ali Shaduli ibn Omar settled near the sea about A.». 1630, on the plain now occupied by the town of Mocha, and his reputation drew people around him, till a village was formed. He greatly recom mended the use of coffee, and Ile has ever been regarded as the patron saint of Mocha, the people having, on his demise, erected over hint an elegant tomb. Tavernier, in the Collection of Several Relations,' etc., published in London in 1680, has stated (page 64) that coffee grows neither in Persia nor in India, where it is in no request ; but the Hollanders drive a great trade in it, trans porting it from Ormus into Persia, as far as Great Tartary, from Balsam into Chaldea, Arabia, Meso potamia, and the other provinces of Turkey. It was first found out by a hermite, whose name was Sheck Siudeli, about twenty years ago, before which thne it was never heard of in any author either ancient or modern.' Coffee has been grown in part of Mysore alinost from the same time that the Arabs have known it. It was brought there from Arabia by Mahomedan pilgrim, named Baba Booden, who formed a college on a spur of the hills DOW called after him, and from there the coffee plants spread. Ile is mid to have brought with him only seven coffee beans, which he planted, and it is now one of the most valuable of the plants which have been distributed by man. Its large, pure white, sweet-scented flowers appear in March, April, and .May, and it fruits in Novetnber, December, and January. Its fruit contains an active prin ciple called caffeine, which has been found to be identical with theine ; and a decoction of the roasted berries, or an infusion of the berries, is a well-knovni artiele of diet, and with tea, cocoa.
matan, Paraguay tea, guaraua, and kola nuts, con stitute the beverages of the European, American, Asiatic, and African peoples. Each of these plants contains the alkaloid •theine. Different in botanical characters, varied in genera, yet not very unlike in flavour, they all contain this valu able active principle. The theine in dried kola nuts is about 2 per cent., coffee has 0.5 to 2.0 per cent., and tea from 0.5 t,o 3.5 parts in 100. The coffee berry consists almost wholly of albumen, which surrounds the small embryo of the seed, and in infusion or decoction is a stimulant. In Arabia, the decoction. and infusion is often pre pared from the husk and the bean, and often from the husk alone. Lane says Kahwa is 'an old Arabic term for wine. Dr. Shortt, in his Hand book to Coffee Planting, described the process of wine and spirit making with the fresh coffee pulp, but also from the dried husks of the fruit.
Coffea Liberica, Bull., the Liberian coffee plant, is of almost arbore,a1 growth. It has a larger leaf, and its berries also are larger, and of superior flavour to those of C. Arabica, and it is more productive. It was at one time hoped that this plant would be less affected ,by the IIemileia mould, known as the leaf disea.se, as it is said to have an immunity from the cemostoma fly.
The import of coffee into Great Britain from Ceylon and other British possessions, from Brazil, Central America, and other countries, was as under : Years. Cwt. Value. Years. Cwt. Value.
1877, 1,609,717 27,788,014 1879, 1,617,389 27,247,568 1878, 1,273,410 6,012,977 1880, 1,555,939 7,062,016 Liberian coffee grows at elevations unsuitable to the Arabian species. At the end of 1877 there were in Ceylon about 500 acres planted with Liberian coffee. Estimates of the area under cultivation at the end of 1880 varied from 4000 t,o even 10,000 acres. Though not enjoying complete immunity from the attacks of leaf disease, the growth and productiveness of the trees have not so far been affected by it. London dealers are said not to appreciat,e its bean very highly, but it has been favourably received in America. -3PColloch; Waring ; Boyle; Bird wood ; Voigt; fount. Ind. Arch. ; Statistical Tables; F. von Mueller.