-_______- 42 THE ANALYST. ON THE DECREASE IK THE USE OF COF’EEE AS A BEVERAGE. BY DR. WALLACE, F.R.S.E. Read before the Society of Public Analyets, Jan. 16th, 1884. OF all the stimulants employed by the people of this- country, including alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee, and cocoa, the only one the consumption of which has decreased of recent years is coffee ; and I have thought it worth while to bring the subject before the members of the Society of Public Analysts, in order that I may endeavour to point out the came or causes of this falling off. I do not propose, in this paper, to discuss the question whether these stimulants are beneficial or injurious to the animal system, although I hold very strong views on the subject. I only wish, on the present occasion, to direct your attention to the anomalous position whichcoffee occupies as a member of the group of substances to which I have referred.I have been assisted inmy endeavour to get at the truth of the matter by my friend, Mr. Michael Connal, who has procured for me a table, compiled by Messrs, Francis Reid and Go., Brokers, Liverpool, in which will be found a great mass of most valuable information. The Atatistics in this table go back in most cases to 1843, and are brought up to 1882, ao that we have here a range of 39 years. As the prosperity, or otherwise, of a nation has a marked influence on the amount of luxuries consumed, I propose, in the first place, to refer to the population of the United Kingdom, and the amount of property and money assessed for income tax, as indicative of the national prosperity.I n 1843 the population amounted to 27,283,000, and it rose steadily till 1846, when it hadincreased to 28,189,000. Then the sad visitation of Ireland by the potato disease, and the enormous emigration from all parts of the United Kingdom, and particularly from Ireland, not only checked the natural increase of population, but caused a decided diminution, gradually augmenting till 1850, when the estimated population, a s at 32st December, was 27,423,000. From that time till now, there has been a constant and, in some cases, very considerable annual increase. In 1856 it had about regained the figure of 10 years previously, the number for that ycar being 28,154,000 ; in 1865 it had reached 30,000,000; in 1870, 31,100,000; in 1873,32,000,000 ; in 1877,33,000,000 ; in 1880, 54,000,000 ; andin 1882, theastounding figure of 36,700,000.We have, in fact, inoreased 5 millions in the last 13 years. So far, then, as population is concerned, we are a most prosperous nation. Now let us Bee whether our material prosperity has kept pace with our increase in numbers. We get aome insight into this from the amount of property and income assessed for income and property tax. Beginning at 1856, which is the date to which my statistics of the tax go back, although it was begun for Great Britain alone in 1842, the amount is 268 millions, or €9 10s. 7d. per head of population; and this included incomes down to $100. We find a perfectly steady increment till 18’76, when the gross amount assessed was 503 millions, and represented property per head of population of ;f15 8s.7d. The slight diminution which followed was probably due, not so much to a falling off in material prosperity, as to the incidence of taxation, which does not now include incomesTHE ANALYST. 43 80 low as those formerly assessed. JIowever that may be, the amount assessed fop property and income tax last year mas 500 millions, or $14 0s. ld. per head of popda- tion; althongh the number of those who pay the tax is comparatively small. Our researches, so far, then, amount to this, that, as a nation, we are rapidly increasing in numbers and in wealth. The quantity of British and foreign spirits consumed in 1843 was *8 7 of a proof gallon per head of population, and this, I am glad to say, has not increased very materially, the present consumption being 1.03 gallons, or an increase of nearly 19 per cent.But the consumption reached a similar figure so far back as 1850, which it felI to -86 of a gallon in 1860-actually lower than in 1843. From this time (1860) there was a gradual rise to 1875, when it reached 1.31 gallons per head, since which it has fallen to 1-03. The case of wine is somewhat similar, but the increase is larger, being 82 per cent. In 2843 it was -22 of a gallon per head, and it remained almost stationary till 1861, when it rose suddenly to *37, from which it went on gradually increasing till 1876, when it was -57, and it has since fallen as gradually to the present figure, -40, or about 24 bottles. If we now inquire into the statistics of tobacco, the only true narcotia in which the Briton indulges, we find a much larger increase.In 2843 it was 084 lbs. per head of population, and it rose steadily to 1877, the period of largest consumption, when it was 1.49 lbs, It has since fallen to 1-37 lbs., or an increase since 1843 of 63 per cent. Now we come to the stimulating beverages, tea, coffee and cocoa. The most important of these is tea, for we are a distinctly tea-drinking nation. The. quantity in 1843 was 1.47 lbs. per head, and it has risen steadily till in I879 it was 4-8 Ibs. It has since fallen slightly, vie : to 4.62, showing, as compared with 1843, an increase of 214 per cent. Cocoa is even more remarkable : beginning with 999 of a pound in 1843, 'it is now -34 of a lb., an increase of 277 per cent.The consumption of coffee was in 1843,l.l lb. per head and it increased up to 1848, when it was 1-37 lbs. It has since slowly but steadily declined, especially since 1853, and is now only *89 lbs., a &mcaase since 1843 of 19 per cent., and since 1853 of 55,per cent. We have here, then, the remarkable fact that while spirits, wine, tobaccto, tea, and cocoa, have increased to the extent of 19, 84,63, 214 and 277 per cent., coffee has decreased to a very considerable extent. What is the reason of this P My opinion is that the people of this country are losing -their taste for coffee, because of the difficulty of obtaining it in a pure state. Just about the time when the consumption was at its maximum, chicory began to be used, and now the use or rather abuse of this vegetable is so universal that comparatively few know the taste of real coffee.When the Briton goes to France, Belgium or Germany, he enjoys his coffee because it is coffee, and in many cases declares that if he could get it like that at home he would driuk it daily. It is quite true that if you ask specially for pure coffee, the grocer is bound to give it to you ; but he gives it with a grudge, for hiR profit is mainly in the chicory with which his ordinary coffee is mixed. I t is a fact that in the best hotels and restaurants in Gtlasgow, the liquid you imbibe is not coffee but a mixture of that substance with chicory, the proportion of the latter being 6 to Q of the whole. Indeed, the proportion of the adulterant is sometimes even more than three-fourths, and4 4 THE ANALYST. the article may be correctly clttscribed as chicory flavoured wtlz coffee.Chicory is Litter, and has three times the colouring power of coffee, hence it gives the liquor the appearance of great strength ; but it contains no caffeine or other analogous alkaloid ; it has no exhilirating properties ; none of the effects upon the system for which coffee is prized ; in fact its admixture with coffee is a pure and simple fraud. To show how the public are deceived in this matter of coffee adulteration let UB take the case of a particulsr coffee sold in tins, It contains 1 part of coffee to 3 parts of chicory, and is sold at Is. 4d. per lb. The coffee in a pound of it costs, retail, say 7d., the chicory say 4d., tins say 3d., profit 2d., total 1s.4d. But the consumer gets no value except the 7d. worth of coffee, the chicory being worse than udess, so that he pays 1s. 4d. for 7d. worth of coffee. Ohicory is not the only adulterant used for making down coffee to an extent that will give sufficient profit to satisfy the gaocer ; the other articles employed being burnt sugar or caramel, dried and roasted figs, dried dates, date stones, decayed ships’ biscuits, beans, peas, acorns, malt, dandelion root, twmips, carrote, parsnips and mangold-wurzel-all of them being roasted to imitate coffee. You have ail, doubtless, heard of the Date Uoffee Company, and how, after flourishing for a brief period in the credulity of the public, it has recently ‘( come to grief.” I regret to say, for the honour of the profession to which I belong, that a London chemist of some standing gave this Company a testimonial in favour of their trashy mixture, saying among other advantages it possessed, that it was less stimulating than the pure article. This is quite true, but we use coffee because it is a stimulant to a mild extent. What would we say of a professional man who advocated that a mixture of whiskey, with an equal bulk of water, the price being about the same as the whiskey itself, was preferable because it was less stimulating 3 I think our Government acted unwisely in taxing chicory at the same rate as coffee and permitting it to be mixed in all proportions with that beverage, which when pure is so delicious, but when mixed is simply abominable. I f admixture of coBee with chicory and other rubbish were absolutely forbidden in the same way as adulteration of tea, it would soon regain the high estimation in which it was formerly held, and the consumption, instead of diminishing, would increase in the same ratio as the other luxuries of which I have spoken. CONCLUSION OF TEE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY OF PUBLIC ANALYSTS.