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Show COFFEE TREE. 206 COFFEE mention of The first European author who has made any t in 1573; but the coffee is Rauwolfius, who was in the Levan er Alpinas, inhis first who has particularly describedit is Prosp in 1591, History of the Agyptian Plants, published at, Venice > : Plants, whose description we have in Parkinson’s Theatre of p- 1622, chap. Ixxix. as follows berry drink. Arbor Bon, cum fructu.suo Buna, the Turks 7 - tha d wee ri oe + ry “tT TREE. 207 damus says choava, and Rauwolfius chauke. This drink has many good physical properties: it strengthens a weak stomach, helping digestion, and the tumours and obstructions of the liver and spleen, being drunk fasting for some time together. It is held in great estimation among the Aigyptian and Arabian women, in common feminine cases, in which theyfind it does them eminent service. the descrip. Alpinus, in his book :of ABgyptian plants, gives us of a cape garden the in saw he says he tion of this tree, which Lord chancellor Bacon likewise makes mention of it in 1624: He says, that the Turks have a drinkcalled coffee, made with euonyThetree, saith Alpinus, is somewhat like the boiling water, of a berry reduced into powder, which makesthe water as black as soot, and is of a pungent and aromatic smell, and is drunk warm. elix, was brought out of ArabiaF tain of the janissaries, which e Pca eamagee : places those In ng growi seen never rarity a as d, plante and there before. but the leaves of it were thicker, harder, mus, or spindle-t Thefruit is called and greener, aalw buna, and is somewhat bigger than a hazel-nut, and longer; likewise on both ; at one end; furrowedd likewise roundalso, and pointed thatit sides, yet on one side more conspicuous than the other, obsmall a lieth whereof side each in two}; into parted might be covered , together join they, side that on flat kernel, white long The celebrated John Ray, in his History of Plants, published in 1690, speaking of it as a drink very much in use, says, that this tree grows only within the tropics, and supposes that the Arabs destroy the vegetable quality of the seeds, in ordeer to con- fine among themselves the great share of wealth, which is brought thither from the whole world for this commodity : from whence he observes, that this part of Arabia might be truly styled the with a yellowish skin, of an acid taste, and ‘angie bitter, most happy, and that it was almost incredible how manymillions opinions and peace of the reali > The and to the disturbance of the quiet 75 tongues; stopping7pebie’s of point great is onth taken of the judges were be an inof coffee and tea might ed, ‘ that retailing sediti on, spread lies, and acngda= when they sagely resolv to nourish used was it butas ; trade nocent Europe. Hesays, ra was astonished that one particular nation should possess so great a treasure, and that within, the narrow limits of one ses and that he wondered. that the neighbouring nations did not contrive to bring away some of the sound seeds orliving plants, in order to share in the advantages of so lucrative a trade. We now cometo show by what means this valuable tree was first introduced into Europe, and fromthenceinto America. The first account of this tree being brought into Europe we and contained in-a thin shell * of a‘darkish ash colour. With in Arabia and A%gypt, and other parts of the these beri drink, Turkish dominions, they generally make a de coction or in lysold common and them, to wine of bead s the in which is Palucaova. of name the by called taverns, or ses tap-hou their 1 commonnuisance.’ lize great men, it mig! Ona petition of the merchants and retailers of coffee and tea, permission was grante d to keep open the coffee-houses until the h of June following, under an admoni- tion that the masters of them should prevent all scandalous pap¢ andlibels from being read in them, uttering, or divulging all manner government, or ini adds Noorthor dish of coffee or tea w and arbiter of the trut! company he entertained !’ books, from declaring, an 35}ne © eve ry person dalous reports against a refinement of policy, sp a on, the simple manufacturer of 3, r falsehood « “r of books, corrector. of manne overevery olitical intelligence r { not from taken from a dried berry, 2 * This description is evidently the ripe fruit. of bushels were exported from thence into Turkey, Barbary, and have from Boerhaave, in his Index of the Leyden Garden, part ii. p. 217, which is as follows: ‘* Nicholas Witsen, burgomaster of Amsterdam, and governor of the Kast India company, by his letters often advised’ and desired Van Hoorn, governor of Batavia, to procure from Mocha, in Arabia Felix, some berties of the wit tree, to be sown’ at Batavia; which he accordingly done, and by that means, about the year raised many plants from seeds, he sent one over governor Witsen, who immediately presented it to the garden at Amster dam, of which he was the founder and supporter: it there bore fruit, which in a short time produced many young plants from |