For a full description of the topography of the serous membranes see any of the standard text-books of anatomy, by Gray, Quain, Cunningham or Macalister. Special details will be found in Sir F. Treves’Anatomy of the Intestinal Canal and Peritoneum(London, 1885); C. B. Lockwood,Hunterian Lectures on Hernia(London, 1889); C. Addison, “Topographical Anatomy of the Abdominal Viscera in Man,”Jour. Anat., vols. 34, 35; F. Dixon and A. Birmingham, “Peritoneum of the Pelvic Cavity,”Jour. Anat.vol. 34, p. 127; W. Waldeyer, “Das Becken” (1899), and “Topographical Sketch of the Lateral Wall of the Pelvic Cavity,”Jour. Anat.vol. 32; B. Moynihan,Retroperitoneal Hernia(London, 1899). A complete bibliography of the subject up to 1895 will be found inQuain’s Anatomy, vol. 3, part 4, p. 69.
For a full description of the topography of the serous membranes see any of the standard text-books of anatomy, by Gray, Quain, Cunningham or Macalister. Special details will be found in Sir F. Treves’Anatomy of the Intestinal Canal and Peritoneum(London, 1885); C. B. Lockwood,Hunterian Lectures on Hernia(London, 1889); C. Addison, “Topographical Anatomy of the Abdominal Viscera in Man,”Jour. Anat., vols. 34, 35; F. Dixon and A. Birmingham, “Peritoneum of the Pelvic Cavity,”Jour. Anat.vol. 34, p. 127; W. Waldeyer, “Das Becken” (1899), and “Topographical Sketch of the Lateral Wall of the Pelvic Cavity,”Jour. Anat.vol. 32; B. Moynihan,Retroperitoneal Hernia(London, 1899). A complete bibliography of the subject up to 1895 will be found inQuain’s Anatomy, vol. 3, part 4, p. 69.
Embryology.—As the mesoderm is gradually spreading over the embryo it splits into two layers, the outer of which is known as thesomatopleureand lines the parietal or ectodermal wall, while the inner lines the entoderm and is called thesplanchnopleure; between the two is the coelom. The pericardial area is early differentiated from the rest of the coelom and at first lies in front of the neural and bucco-pharyngeal area; here the mesoderm stretches right across the mid-line, which it does not in front and behind. As the head fold of the embryo is formed the pericardium is gradually turned right over, so that the dorsal side becomes the ventral and the anterior limit the posterior; this will be evident on referring to the two accompanying diagrams.
The two primitive aortae lie at first in the ventral wall of thepericardium, but with the folding over they come to lie in the dorsal wall and gradually bulge into the cavity as they coalesce to form the heart, so that the heart drops into the dorsal side of the pericardium and draws down a fold of the membrane called thedorsal mesocardium. In mammals A. Robinson (Jour. Anat. and Phys., xxxvii. 1) has shown that no ventral mesocardium exists, though in more lowly vertebrates it is present. Laterally the pericardial cavity communicates with the general cavity of the coelom, but with the growth of the Cuvierian ducts (see development of veins) these communications disappear. Originally the mesocardium runs the whole length of the pericardium from before backward, but later on the middle part becomes obliterated, and so the two separate reflections from the parietal to the visceral layer, already noticed, are accounted for.
Just behind the pericardium and in front of the umbilicus, which at first are close together, the mesoderm forms a mass which is called theseptum transversum, and into this the developing lungs push bag-like protrusions of the coelom, consisting of visceral and parietal layers, and these eventually lose their connexion with the rest of the coelom, as the diaphragm develops, and become the pleural cavities. After the pericardium and pleurae have been separated off the remainder of the coelom becomes the peritoneum. At first the stomach and intestine form a straight tube, which is connected to the dorsum of the embryo by adorsal mesenteryand to the mid-ventral wall in front of the umbilicus by aventral mesentery. Into the ventral mesentery the liver grows as diverticula from the duodenum, so that some of the mesentery remains as thefalciform ligamentof the liver and some as the lesser omentum. Into the dorsal mesentery the pancreas grows, also as diverticula, from the duodenum, while the spleen is developed from the mesoderm contained in the same fold. As the stomach turns over so that its left side becomes ventral, the dorsal mesentery attached to it becomes pulled out, in such a way that part of it forms the great omentum and part the gastro-splenic omentum. After the caecum is formed as a diverticulum from the intestine it is situated close to the liver and gradually travels down into the right iliac fossa. This passage to the right is accompanied by a throwing over of the duodenal loop to the right, so that the right side of its mesentery becomes pressed against the dorsal wall of the abdomen and obliterated. This accounts for the fact that the pancreas and duodenum are only covered by peritoneum on their anterior surfaces in man. The formation of the lesser sac is due to the turning over of the stomach to the right, with the result that a cave, known sometimes as thebursa omentalis, is formed behind it. Originally, of course, the whole colon had adorsal mesocoloncontinuous with the mesentery, but in the region of the ascending and descending colon this usually disappears and these parts of the gut are uncovered by peritoneum posteriorly. The transverse mesocolon persists and at first is quite free from the great omentum, but later, in man, the two structures fuse1and the fourth layer of the great omentum becomes continuous with the posterior layer of the transverse mesocolon.
For further details see Quain’sAnatomy(London, 1908).
For further details see Quain’sAnatomy(London, 1908).
Comparative Anatomy.—In the Amphioxus the coelom is developed in the embryo as a series of bilateral pouches, calledenterocoeles, from the sides of the alimentary canal; these are therefore entodermal in their origin, as in Sagitta and the Echinodermata among the invertebrates. In the adult the development of the atrium causes a considerable reduction of the coelom, represented by two dorsal coelomic canals communicating with a ventral canal by means of branchial canals which run down the outer side of the primary gill bars. Into the dorsal canals the nephridia open. In the intestinal region the coelom is only present on the left side.
In the higher vertebrates (Craniata) the coelom is developed by a splitting of the mesoderm into two layers, and a pericardium is constricted off from the general cavity. In all cases the ova burst into the coelom before making their way to the exterior, and in some cases,e.g.amphioxus, lamprey (Cyclostomata), eels and mud-fish (Dipnoi), the sperm cells do so too. The Cyclostomata have a pair ofgenital poreswhich lead from the coelom into the urino-genital sinus, and so to the exterior.
In the Elasmobranch fish there is apericardio-peritoneal canalforming a communication between these two parts of the coelom; also a large common opening for the two oviducts in the region of the liver, and two openings, calledabdominal pores, on to the surface close to the cloacal aperture. In the Teleostomi (Teleostean and Ganoid fish) abdominal pores are rare, but in most Teleostei (bony fish) the ova pass directly down oviducts, as they do in Arthropods, without entering the peritoneal cavity; there is little doubt, however, that these oviducts are originally coelomic in origin. In the Dipnoi (mud-fish) abdominal pores are found, and probably serve as a passage for the sperm cells, since there are no vasa deferentia. In fishes a complete dorsal mesentery is seldom found in the adult; in many cases it only remains as a tube surrounding the vessels passing to the alimentary canal.
In the Amphibia, Reptilia and Aves, one cavity acts as pleura and peritoneum, though in the latter the lungs are not completely surrounded by a serous membrane. In many lizards the comparatively straight intestine, with its continuous dorsal mesentery and ventral mesentery in the anterior part of the abdomen, is very like a stage in the development of the human and other mammalian embryos. In the mammalia the diaphragm is complete (seeDiaphragm) and divides the pleuro-peritoneal cavity into its two constituent parts. In the lower mammals the derivatives of the original dorsal mesentery do not undergo as much fusion and obliteration as they do in adult man; the ascending and descending mesocolon is retained, and the transverse mesocolon contracts no adhesion to the great omentum. It is a common thing, however, to find a fenestrated arrangement of the great omentum which shows that its layers have been completely obliterated in many places.
In those animals, such as the rabbit, in which the tests are sometimes in the scrotum and sometimes in the abdomen, the communication between the peritoneum and the tunica vaginalis remains throughout life.
For further details and literature up to 1902, see R. Wiedersheim’sVergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere(Jena, 1902).
For further details and literature up to 1902, see R. Wiedersheim’sVergleichende Anatomie der Wirbeltiere(Jena, 1902).
(F. G. P.)
1Some authorities hold that this alteration is not brought about by fusion, but by a dragging away of the posterior layer of the great omentum from the dorsal wall of the abdomen.
1Some authorities hold that this alteration is not brought about by fusion, but by a dragging away of the posterior layer of the great omentum from the dorsal wall of the abdomen.
COEN, JAN PIETERSZOON(1587-1630), fourth governor-general of the Dutch East Indies, was born at Hoorn, and spent his youth at Rome in the house of the famous merchants the Piscatori. In 1607 he sailed from Amsterdam to the Indies as second commercial agent, and remained away four years. He had proved so capable that in 1612 he was sent out a second time at the head of a trading expedition. In the following year he was made a councillor and director-general of the East Indian trade. Afterwards he became president at Bantam, and on the 31st of October 1617 he was promoted in succession to Laurens Reaal to the post of governor-general. To his vigour and intrepidity the Dutch in no small measure owed the preservation and establishment of their empire in the East. He took and destroyed Jacatra, and founded on its ruins the capital of the Dutch East Indies, to which he gave the name of Batavia. In 1622 Coen obtained leave to resign his post and return to Holland, but in his absence great difficulties had arisen with the English at Amboina (the so-called massacre of Amboina), and in 1627 under pressure from the directors of the East India Company he again returned as governor-general to Batavia. In 1629 he was able to beat off a formidable attack of the sultan of Mataram, sometimes styled emperor of Java, upon Batavia. He died the following year.
COENACULUM,the term applied to the eating-room of a Roman house in which the supper (coena) or latest meal was taken. It was sometimes placed in an upper storey and reached by an external staircase. The Last Supper in the New Testament was taken in the Coenaculum, the “large upper room” cited in St Mark (xiv. 15) and St Luke (xxii. 12).
CŒNWULF(d. 821), king of Mercia, succeeded to the throne in 796, on the death of Ecgfrith, son of Offa. His succession is somewhat remarkable, as his direct ancestors do not seem to have held the throne for six generations. In 798 he invaded Kent, deposed and imprisoned Eadberht Præn, and made his own brother Cuthred king. Cuthred reigned in Kent from 798 to 807, when he died, and Cœnwulf seems to have taken Kent into his own hands. It was during this reign that the archbishopric of Lichfield was abolished, probably before 803, as the Hygeberht who signed as an abbot at the council of Cloveshoe in that year was presumably the former archbishop. Cœnwulf appears from the charters to have quarrelled with Wulfred of Canterbury, who was consecrated in 806, and the dispute continued for several years. It was probably only settled at Cloveshoe in 825, when the lawsuit of Cwœnthryth, daughter and heiress of Cœnwulf, with Wulfred was terminated. Cœnwulf may have instigated the raid of Æthelmund, earl of the Hwicce, upon the accession of Ecgberht. He died in 821, and was succeeded by his brother Ceolwulf I.
See Earle and Plummer’s edition of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, 796, 819 (Oxford, 1892); W. de G. Birch,Cartularium Saxonicum, 378 (London, 1885-1893).
See Earle and Plummer’s edition of theAnglo-Saxon Chronicle, 796, 819 (Oxford, 1892); W. de G. Birch,Cartularium Saxonicum, 378 (London, 1885-1893).
(F. G. M. B.)
COERCION(from Lat.coercere, to restrain), an application of moral or physical compulsion by which a person is forced to do or refrain from doing some act or set of acts apart from his own voluntary motion. Where the coercion is direct or positive,i.e.where the person is compelled by physical force to do an act contrary to his will,—for example, when a man is compelled to join a rebel army, and to serve as a soldier under threats of death,—his act is not legally a crime. Where the coercion is implied, as when a person is legally under subjection to another, the person coerced, having no will on the subject, is not responsible. But this principle is applied only within narrow limits, and does not extend to the command of a superior to an inferior; of a parent to a child; of a master to his servant or a principal to his agent. Where, however, a married woman commits a crime in the presence of her husband, she is generally presumed to have acted by his coercion, and to be entitled to acquittal, but this presumption does not extend to grave crimes, nor to those in which the principal part may be supposed to be taken by the woman, such as keeping a brothel. In civil matters, such as the making of a contract, where the law requires the free assent of the person who undertakes the obligation, coercion is a ground for invalidating the instrument.
The term “coercion” is inevitably somewhat ambiguous, and depends on the circumstances of the case. In a political sense, the application of the Crimes Act of 1887 to Ireland was called “coercion” by those opposed to the English Unionist party and government, as being special legislation differing from the ordinary law applicable in the United Kingdom.
CŒUR, JACQUES(c.1395-1456), founder of the trade between France and the Levant, was born at Bourges, in which city his father, Pierre Cœur, was a rich merchant. Jacques is first heard of about 1418, when he married Macée de Léodepart, daughter of Lambert de Léodepart, an influential citizen, provost of Bourges, and a former valet of John, duke of Berry. About 1429 he formed a commercial partnership with two brothers named Godard; and in 1432 he was at Damascus, buying and bartering, and transporting the wares of the Levant—gall-nuts, wools and silks, goats’ hair, brocades and carpets—to the interior of France by way of Narbonne. In the same year he established himself at Montpellier, and there began those gigantic operations which have made him illustrious among financiers. Details are wanting; but it is certain that in a few years he placed his country in a position to contend not unsuccessfully with the great trading republics of Italy, and acquired such reputation as to be able, mere trader as he was, to render material assistance to the knights of Rhodes and to Venice herself.
In 1436 Cœur was summoned to Paris by Charles VII., and made master of the mint that had been established in that city. The post was of vast importance, and the duties onerous. The country was deluged with the base moneys of three reigns, charged with superscriptions both French and English, and Charles had determined on a sweeping reform. In this design he was ably seconded by the merchant, who, in fact, inspired or prepared all the ordinances concerning the coinage of France issued between 1435 and 1451. In 1438 he was made steward of the royal expenditure; in 1441 he and his family were ennobled by letters patent. In 1444 he was sent as one of the royal commissioners to preside over the new parlement of Languedoc, a dignity he bore till the day of his disgrace. In 1445 his agents in the East negotiated a treaty between the sultan of Egypt and the knights of Rhodes; and in 1447, at his instance, Jean de Village, his nephew by marriage, was charged with a mission to Egypt. The results were most important; concessions were obtained which greatly improved the position of the French consuls in the Levant, and that influence in the East was thereby founded which, though often interrupted, was for several centuries a chief commercial glory of France. In the same year Cœur assisted in an embassy to Amadeus VIII., former duke of Savoy, who had been chosen pope as Felix V. by the council of Basel; and in 1448 he represented the French king at the court of Pope Nicholas V., and was able to arrange an agreement between Nicholas and Amadeus, and so to end the papal schism. Nicholas treated him with the utmost distinction, lodged him in the papal palace, and gave him a special licence to traffic with the infidels. From about this time he made large advances to Charles for carrying on his wars; and in 1449, after fighting at the king’s side through the campaign, he entered Rouen in his train.
At this moment the great trader’s glory was at its height. He had represented France in three embassies, and had supplied the sinews of that war which had ousted the English from Normandy. He was invested with various offices of dignity, and possessed the most colossal fortune that had ever been amassed by a private Frenchman. The sea was covered with his ships; he had 300 factors in his employ, and houses of business in all the chief cities of France. He had built houses and chapels, and had founded colleges in Paris, at Montpellier and at Bourges. The house at Bourges (seeHouse, Plate II. figs. 7 and 8) was of exceptional magnificence, and remains to-day one of the finest monuments of the middle ages in France. He also built there the sacristy of the cathedral and a sepulchral chapel for his family. His brother Nicholas was made bishop of Luçon, his sister married Jean Bochetel, the king’s secretary, his daughter married the son of the viscount of Bourges, and his son Jean became archbishop of Bourges. But Cœur’s gigantic monopoly caused his ruin. Dealing in everything, money and arms, peltry and jewels, brocades and woollens—a broker, a banker, a farmer—he had absorbed the trade of the country, and merchants complained they could make no gains on account of “that Jacquet.” He had lent money to needy courtiers, to members of the royal family, and to the king himself, and his debtors, jealous of his wealth, were eager for a chance to cause his overthrow.
In February 1450 Agnes Sorel, the king’s mistress, suddenly died. Eighteen months later it was rumoured that she had been poisoned, and a lady of the court who owed money to Jacques Cœur, Jeanne de Vendôme, wife of François de Montberon, and an Italian, Jacques Colonna, formally accused him of having poisoned her. There was not even a pretext for such a charge, but for this and other alleged crimes the king, on the 31st of July 1451, gave orders for his arrest and for the seizure of his goods, reserving to himself a large sum of money for the war in Guienne. Commissioners extraordinary, the merchant’s declared enemies, were chosen to conduct the trial, and an inquiry began, the judges in which were either the prisoner’s debtors or the holders of his forfeited estates. He was accused of having paid French gold and ingots to the infidels, of coining light money, of kidnapping oarsmen for his galleys, of sending back a Christian slave who had taken sanctuary on board one of his ships, and of committing frauds and exactions in Languedoc to the king’s prejudice. He defended himself with all the energy of his nature. His innocence was manifest; but a conviction was necessary, and in spite of strenuous efforts on the part of his friends, after twenty-twomonths of confinement in five prisons, he was condemned to do public penance for his fault, to pay the king a sum equal to about £1,000,000 of modern money, and to remain a prisoner till full satisfaction had been obtained; his sentence also embraced confiscation of all his property, and exile during royal pleasure. On the 5th of June 1453 the sentence took effect; at Poitiers the shameful form of making honourable amends was gone through; and for nearly three years nothing is known of him. It is probable that he remained in prison; it is certain that his vast possessions were distributed among the intimates of Charles.
In 1455 Jacques Cœur, wherever confined, contrived to escape into Provence. He was pursued; but a party, headed by Jean de Village and two of his old factors, carried him off to Tarascon, whence, by way of Marseilles, Nice and Pisa, he managed to reach Rome. He was honourably and joyfully received by Nicholas V., who was fitting out an expedition against the Turks. On the death of Nicholas, Calixtus III. continued his work, and named his guest captain of a fleet of sixteen galleys sent to the relief of Rhodes. Cœur set out on this expedition, but was taken ill at Chios, and died there on the 25th of November 1456. After his death Charles VII. showed himself well disposed to the family, and allowed Jacques Cœur’s sons to come into possession of whatever was left of their father’s wealth.
See the admirable monograph of Pierre Clément,Jacques Cœur et Charles VII(1858, 2nd ed. 1874); A. Valet de Viriville,Charles Sept et son époque(3 vols., 1862-1865); and Louisa Costello,Jacques Cœur, the French Argonaut(London, 1847).
See the admirable monograph of Pierre Clément,Jacques Cœur et Charles VII(1858, 2nd ed. 1874); A. Valet de Viriville,Charles Sept et son époque(3 vols., 1862-1865); and Louisa Costello,Jacques Cœur, the French Argonaut(London, 1847).
CŒUR D’ALÊNE(“awl-heart,” the French translation of the native nameskitswish), a tribe of North American Indians of Salishan stock. The name is said to have been originally that of a chief noted for his cruelty. The tribe has given its name to a lake, river and range of mountains in Idaho, where on a reservation the survivors, some 400, are settled.
COFFEE(Fr:café, Ger.Kaffee). This important and valuable article of food is the produce chiefly ofCoffea arabica, a Rubiaceous plant indigenous to Abyssinia, which, however, as cultivated originally, spread outwards from the southern parts of Arabia. The name is probably derived from the Arabic K’hāwah, although by some it has been traced to Kaffa, a province in Abyssinia, in which the tree grows wild.
The genusCoffea, to which the common coffee tree belongs, contains about 25 species in the tropics of the Old World, mainly African. Besides being found wild in Abyssinia, the common coffee plant appears to be widely disseminated in Africa, occurring wild in the Mozambique district, on the shores of the Victoria Nyanza, and in Angola on the west coast. The coffee leaf disease in Ceylon brought into prominence Liberian coffee (C. liberica), a native of the west coast of Africa, now extensively grown in several parts of the world. Other species of economic importance are Sierra Leone coffee (C. stenophylla) and Congo coffee (C. robusta), both of which have been introduced into and are cultivated on a small scale in various parts of the tropics.C. excelsais another species of considerable promise.
The common Arabian coffee shrub is an evergreen plant, which under natural conditions grows to a height of from 18 to 20 ft., with oblong-ovate, acuminate, smooth and shining leaves, measuring about 6 in. in length by 2½ wide. Its flowers, which are produced in dense clusters in the axils of the leaves, have a five-toothed calyx, a tubular five-parted corolla, five stamens and a single bifid style. The flowers are pure white in colour, with a rich fragrant odour, and the plants in blossom have a lovely and attractive appearance, but the bloom is very evanescent. The fruit is a fleshy berry, having the appearance and size of a small cherry, and as it ripens it assumes a dark red colour. Each fruit contains two seeds embedded in a yellowish pulp, and the seeds are enclosed in a thin membranous endocarp (the “parchment”). Between each seed and the parchment is a delicate covering called the “silver skin.” The seeds which constitute the raw coffee “beans” of commerce are plano-convex in form, the flat surfaces which are laid against each other within the berry having a longitudinal furrow or groove. When only one seed is developed in a fruit it is not flattened on one side, but circular in cross section. Such seeds form “pea-berry” coffee.
The seeds are of a soft, semi-translucent, bluish or greenish colour, hard and tough in texture. The regions best adapted for the cultivation of coffee are well-watered mountain slopes at an elevation ranging from 1000 to 4000 ft. above sea-level, within the tropics, and possessing a mean annual temperature of about 65° to 70° F.
The Liberian coffee plant (C. liberica) has larger leaves, flowers and fruits, and is of a more robust and hardy constitution, than Arabian coffee. The seeds yield a highly aromatic and well-flavoured coffee (but by no means equal to Arabian), and the plant is very prolific and yields heavy crops. Liberian coffee grows, moreover, at low altitudes, and flourishes in many situations unsuitable to the Arabian coffee. It grows wild in great abundance along the whole of the Guinea coast.
History.—The early history of coffee as an economic product is involved in considerable obscurity, the absence of fact being compensated for by a profusion of conjectural statements and mythical stories. The use of coffee (C. arabica) in Abyssinia was recorded in the 15th century, and was then stated to have been practised from time immemorial. Neighbouring countries, however, appear to have been quite ignorant of its value. Various legendary accounts are given of the discovery of the beneficial properties of the plant, one ascribing it to a flock of sheep accidentally browsing on the wild shrubs, with the result that they became elated and sleepless at night! Its physiological action in dissipating drowsiness and preventing sleep was taken advantage of in connexion with the prolonged religious service of the Mahommedans, and its use as a devotional antisoporific stirred up fierce opposition on the part of the strictly orthodox and conservative section of the priests. Coffee by them was held to be an intoxicating beverage, and therefore prohibited by the Koran, and severe penalties were threatened to those addicted to its use. Notwithstanding threats of divine retribution and other devices, the coffee-drinking habit spread rapidly among the Arabian Mahommedans, and the growth of coffee and its use as a national beverage became as inseparably connected with Arabia as tea is with China.
Towards the close of the 16th century the use of coffee was recorded by a European resident in Egypt, and about this epoch it came into general use in the near East. The appreciation of coffee as a beverage in Europe dates from the 17th century. “Coffee-houses” were soon instituted, the first being opened in Constantinople and Venice. In London coffee-houses date from 1652, when one was opened in St Michael’s Alley, Cornhill. They soon became popular, and the role played by them in the social life of the 17th and 18th centuries is well known. Germany, France, Sweden and other countries adopted them at about the same time as Great Britain. In Europe, as in Arabia, coffee at first made its way into favour in the face of various adverse and even prohibitive restrictions. Thus at one time in Germany it was necessary to obtain a licence to roast coffee. In England Charles II. endeavoured to suppress coffee-houses on the ground that they were centres of political agitation, his royal proclamation stating that they were the resort of disaffected persons “who devised and spread abroad divers false, malicious andscandalous reports, to the defamation of His Majesty’s government, and to the disturbance of the peace and quiet of the nation.”
Up to the close of the 17th century the world’s entire, although limited, supply of coffee was obtained from the province of Yemen in south Arabia, where the true celebrated Mocha or Mokka coffee is still produced. At this time, however, plants were successfully introduced from Arabia to Java, where the cultivation was immediately taken up. The government of Java distributed plants to various places, including the botanic garden of Amsterdam. The Portuguese introduced coffee into Ceylon. From Amsterdam the Dutch sent the plant to Surinam in 1718, and in the same year Jamaica received it through the governor Sir Nicholas Lawes. Within a few years coffee reached the other West Indian islands, and spread generally through the tropics of the New World, which now produce by far the greater portion of the world’s supply.
Cultivation and Preparation for Market.—Coffee plants are grown from seeds, which, as in the case of other crops, should be obtained from selected trees of desirable characteristics. The seeds may be sown “at stake,”i.e.in the actual positions the mature plants are to occupy, or raised in a nursery and afterwards transplanted. The choice of methods is usually determined by various local considerations. Nurseries are desirable where there is risk of drought killing seedlings in the open. Whilst young the plants usually require to be shaded, and this may be done by growing castor oil plants, cassava (Manihot), maize or Indian corn, bananas, or various other useful crops between the coffee, until the latter develop and occupy the ground. Sometimes, but by no means always, permanent shading is afforded by special shade trees, such as species of the coral tree (Erythrina) and other leguminous trees. Opinions as to the necessity of shade trees varies in different countries;e.g.in Brazil and at high elevations in Jamaica they are not employed, whereas in Porto Rico many look on them as absolutely essential. It is probable that in many cases where shade trees are of advantage their beneficial action may be indirect, in affording protection from wind, drought or soil erosion, and, when leguminous plants are employed, in enriching the soil in nitrogen. The plants begin to come into bearing in their second or third year, but on the average the fifth is the first year of considerable yield. There may be two, three, or even more “flushes” of blossom in one year, and flowers and fruits in all stages may thus be seen on one plant. The fruits are fully ripe about seven months after the flowers open; the ripe fruits are fleshy, and of a deep red colour, whence the name of “cherry.” When mature the fruits are picked by hand, or allowed to fall of their own accord or by shaking the plant. The subsequent preparation may be according to (1) the dry or (2) the wet method.
In the dry method the cherries are spread in a thin layer, often on a stone drying floor, or barbecue, and exposed to the sun. Protection is necessary against heavy dew or rain. The dried cherries can be stored for any length of time, and later the dried pulp and the parchment are removed, setting free the two beans contained in each cherry. This primitive and simple method is employed in Arabia, in Brazil and other countries. In Brazil it is giving place to the more modern method described below.
In the wet, or as it is sometimes called, West Indian method, the cherries are put in a tank of water. On large estates galvanized spouting is often employed to convey the beans by the help of running water from the fields to the tank. The mature cherries sink, and are drawn off from the tank through pipes to the pulping machines. Here they are subjected to the action of a roughened cylinder revolving closely against a curved iron plate. The fleshy portion is reduced to a pulp, and the mixture of pulp and liberated seeds (each still enclosed in its parchment) is carried away to a second tank of water and stirred. The light pulp is removed by a stream of water and the seeds allowed to settle. Slight fermentation and subsequent washings, accompanied by trampling with bare feet and stirring by rakes or special machinery, result in the parchment coverings being left quite clean. The beans are now dried on barbecues, in trays, &c., or by artificial heat if climatic conditions render this necessary. Recent experiments in Porto Rico tend to show that if the weather is unfavourable during the crop period the pulped coffee can be allowed to remain moist and even to malt or sprout without injury to the final value of the product when dried later. The product is now in the state known as parchment coffee, and may be exported. Before use, however, the parchment must be removed. This may be done on the estate, at the port of shipment, or in the country where imported. The coffee is thoroughly dried, the parchment broken by a roller, and removed by winnowing. Further rubbing and winnowing removes the silver skin, and the beans are left in the condition of ordinary unroasted coffee. Grading into large, medium and small beans, to secure the uniformity desirable in roasting, is effected by the use of a cylindrical or other pattern sieve, along which the beans are made to travel, encountering first small, then medium, and finally large apertures or meshes. Damaged beans and foreign matter are removed by hand picking. An average yield of cleaned coffee is from 1½ to 2 ℔ per tree, but much greater crops are obtained on new rich lands, and under special conditions.
Production.—The centre of production has shifted greatly since coffee first came into use in Europe. Arabia formerly supplied the world; later the West Indies and then Java took the lead, to be supplanted in turn by Brazil, which now produces about three-quarters of the world’s supply and controls the market.Brazil.—Coffee planting is the chief industry of Brazil, and coffee the principal export. The states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Geraes and Santos, contain the chief coffee-producing lands. The annual output ranges from about 10,000,000 to 16,000,000 bags (of 120 ℔ each), whilst the world’s annual consumption is more or less stationary at about 16,000,000 bags. The overwhelming importance of the Brazilian output is thus evident. Recently efforts have been made to restrict production to maintain prices, and the Coffee Convention scheme came into force in São Paulo on December 1, 1906, and in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes on January 1, 1907. The cultivation in general is very primitive in character, periodical weeding being almost all the attention the plants receive. Manuring is commonly confined to mulches of the cut weeds and addition of the coffee husks. New lands in São Paulo yield from 80 cwt. to 100 cwt. of cleaned coffee per 1000 trees (700 go to the acre); the average yield, however, is not more than 15 cwt. The plants are at their best when from 10 to 15 years old, but continue yielding for 30 years or even more.Other South American Countries.—Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and to a much less degree Bolivia and Paraguay, produce coffee, the annual crops of the two former countries being each of about £1,500,000 in value.Central America.—Guatemala produces the most in this region; the coffee estates are mainly controlled by Germans, who have brought them to a high pitch of perfection. The crop ranges in value from about £1,000,000 to £1,500,000 per annum. Costa Rica and San Salvador produce about half this amount. In Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama, coffee is extensively cultivated, and all export the product.West Indies.—Coffee is grown in most of the islands, often only for local use. Haiti produces the largest amount, the annual value of the crop being about £500,000. Porto Rico formerly had a flourishing industry, but it has declined owing to various causes. The interior is still expected to be devoted largely to coffee, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has carried out experiments to improve methods and ensure the cultivation of better varieties. Jamaica produces the famous Blue Mountain Coffee, which compares favourably with the best coffees of the world, and also ordinary or “plain grown”; the Blue Mountain is cultivated at elevations of from 3000 to 4500 ft. Coffee usually ranks third or fourth in value amongst the exports of the island.Africa, the native country of the coffees, does not now contribute any important amount to the world’s output. In Liberia, the Gold Coast and elsewhere on the West Coast are many plantations, but the low prices ruling of recent years have caused coffee to be neglected for more remunerative crops. Coffee is, however, still the principal export of Nyasaland (British Central Africa), where it was introduced as recently as 1894. The area under coffee has been greatly reduced, owing partly to more attention being paid to cotton, partly to droughts and other causes. In Somaliland and Abyssinia coffee cultivation is of very ancient date. Two kinds are exported, Harrari and Habashi. The former compares favourably with Mocha coffee. The industry could be very considerably extended. In Natal, Rhodesia, &c., coffee is grown, but not in sufficient quantity to supply the local demand.Arabia.—The name “Mocha” is applied generally to coffee produced in Arabia. Turkey and Egypt obtain the best grades. Traders from these countries go to Arabia, buy the crops on the trees, and supervise its picking and preparation themselves. The coffee is prepared by the “dry method.”Indiais the principal coffee-growing region in the British empire, and produces about one-fifth of the total supply of the United Kingdom. There are some 213,000 acres under coffee, mostly in southern India. The official report states that the production of coffee is restricted for the most part to a limited area in the elevated region above the south-western coast, the coffee lands of Mysore, Coorg, and the Madras districts of Malabar and the Nilgiris, comprising 86% of the whole area under the plant in India. About one-half of the whole coffee-producing area is in Mysore. In Burma, Assam and Bombay, coffee is of minor importance. During 1904-1906 there was a reduction of the area under coffee in India by 21,554 acres.Ceylon.—The history of coffee in Ceylon is practically that of the coffee-leaf disease (see below). The Dutch introduced Arabian coffee in 1720, but abandoned its cultivation later. It was revived by the British, and developed very rapidly between 1836 and 1845, when there was a temporary collapse owing to financial crisis in the United Kingdom. In 1880 the exports of coffee were of the value of about £2,784,163. Ten years later they had fallen to £430,633, owing to the ravages of the coffee-leaf disease. The output continued to decrease, and the value of the crop in 1906 was only £17,258. Liberian coffee, which is hardier and more resistant to disease, was introduced, but met with only partial success.Dutch East Indies.—Coffee from this source passes under the general name of “Java,” that island producing the greatest amount; Sumatra, Borneo and the Celebes, &c., however, also contribute. The Java plantations are largely owned by the government. Much of the coffee from these islands is of a high quality.Australasia.—Coffee can be cultivated in the northern territories of Australia, but comparatively little is done with this crop; Queensland produces the largest amount.Hawaii, &c.—In all the islands of the Hawaiian group coffee is grown, but nine-tenths or more is raised in Hawaii itself, the Kona district being the chief seat of production. The exports go mostly to the United States, and there is also a large local consumption.Coffee thrives well also in the Philippines and Guam.The World’s Trade.—The following figures, from theYear-bookof the U.S. Department of Agriculture, indicate the relative importance of the coffee-exporting countries.Country.1904.Exports coffeein ℔.1905.Exports coffeein ℔.America—Brazil1,326,027,7951,431,328,038Colombia130,000,000(est.) 70,000,000Venezuela128,000,000(est.) 94,370,090Haiti81,407,34645,244,232Salvador75,314,00361,822,223Guatemala71,653,70081,081,600Mexico41,855,36842,456,491Costa Rica27,730,67239,788,002Nicaragua21,661,62118,171,515Porto Rico15,330,590Jamaica5,781,4409,046,464Asia—Dutch East Indies77,168,25472,864,649British India36,920,46440,340,384Singapore (port of export)12,367,15611,935,034Other countries216,891,567220,132,690——————————Total2,268,109,9762,238,581,412In 1906 there was an increased total of 2,680,855,878 ℔, due to the Brazil export rising to 1,847,367,771 ℔. The aggregate value of the coffee annually entering the world’s markets is about £40,000,000.
Production.—The centre of production has shifted greatly since coffee first came into use in Europe. Arabia formerly supplied the world; later the West Indies and then Java took the lead, to be supplanted in turn by Brazil, which now produces about three-quarters of the world’s supply and controls the market.
Brazil.—Coffee planting is the chief industry of Brazil, and coffee the principal export. The states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Geraes and Santos, contain the chief coffee-producing lands. The annual output ranges from about 10,000,000 to 16,000,000 bags (of 120 ℔ each), whilst the world’s annual consumption is more or less stationary at about 16,000,000 bags. The overwhelming importance of the Brazilian output is thus evident. Recently efforts have been made to restrict production to maintain prices, and the Coffee Convention scheme came into force in São Paulo on December 1, 1906, and in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Geraes on January 1, 1907. The cultivation in general is very primitive in character, periodical weeding being almost all the attention the plants receive. Manuring is commonly confined to mulches of the cut weeds and addition of the coffee husks. New lands in São Paulo yield from 80 cwt. to 100 cwt. of cleaned coffee per 1000 trees (700 go to the acre); the average yield, however, is not more than 15 cwt. The plants are at their best when from 10 to 15 years old, but continue yielding for 30 years or even more.
Other South American Countries.—Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and to a much less degree Bolivia and Paraguay, produce coffee, the annual crops of the two former countries being each of about £1,500,000 in value.
Central America.—Guatemala produces the most in this region; the coffee estates are mainly controlled by Germans, who have brought them to a high pitch of perfection. The crop ranges in value from about £1,000,000 to £1,500,000 per annum. Costa Rica and San Salvador produce about half this amount. In Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama, coffee is extensively cultivated, and all export the product.
West Indies.—Coffee is grown in most of the islands, often only for local use. Haiti produces the largest amount, the annual value of the crop being about £500,000. Porto Rico formerly had a flourishing industry, but it has declined owing to various causes. The interior is still expected to be devoted largely to coffee, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture has carried out experiments to improve methods and ensure the cultivation of better varieties. Jamaica produces the famous Blue Mountain Coffee, which compares favourably with the best coffees of the world, and also ordinary or “plain grown”; the Blue Mountain is cultivated at elevations of from 3000 to 4500 ft. Coffee usually ranks third or fourth in value amongst the exports of the island.
Africa, the native country of the coffees, does not now contribute any important amount to the world’s output. In Liberia, the Gold Coast and elsewhere on the West Coast are many plantations, but the low prices ruling of recent years have caused coffee to be neglected for more remunerative crops. Coffee is, however, still the principal export of Nyasaland (British Central Africa), where it was introduced as recently as 1894. The area under coffee has been greatly reduced, owing partly to more attention being paid to cotton, partly to droughts and other causes. In Somaliland and Abyssinia coffee cultivation is of very ancient date. Two kinds are exported, Harrari and Habashi. The former compares favourably with Mocha coffee. The industry could be very considerably extended. In Natal, Rhodesia, &c., coffee is grown, but not in sufficient quantity to supply the local demand.
Arabia.—The name “Mocha” is applied generally to coffee produced in Arabia. Turkey and Egypt obtain the best grades. Traders from these countries go to Arabia, buy the crops on the trees, and supervise its picking and preparation themselves. The coffee is prepared by the “dry method.”
Indiais the principal coffee-growing region in the British empire, and produces about one-fifth of the total supply of the United Kingdom. There are some 213,000 acres under coffee, mostly in southern India. The official report states that the production of coffee is restricted for the most part to a limited area in the elevated region above the south-western coast, the coffee lands of Mysore, Coorg, and the Madras districts of Malabar and the Nilgiris, comprising 86% of the whole area under the plant in India. About one-half of the whole coffee-producing area is in Mysore. In Burma, Assam and Bombay, coffee is of minor importance. During 1904-1906 there was a reduction of the area under coffee in India by 21,554 acres.
Ceylon.—The history of coffee in Ceylon is practically that of the coffee-leaf disease (see below). The Dutch introduced Arabian coffee in 1720, but abandoned its cultivation later. It was revived by the British, and developed very rapidly between 1836 and 1845, when there was a temporary collapse owing to financial crisis in the United Kingdom. In 1880 the exports of coffee were of the value of about £2,784,163. Ten years later they had fallen to £430,633, owing to the ravages of the coffee-leaf disease. The output continued to decrease, and the value of the crop in 1906 was only £17,258. Liberian coffee, which is hardier and more resistant to disease, was introduced, but met with only partial success.
Dutch East Indies.—Coffee from this source passes under the general name of “Java,” that island producing the greatest amount; Sumatra, Borneo and the Celebes, &c., however, also contribute. The Java plantations are largely owned by the government. Much of the coffee from these islands is of a high quality.
Australasia.—Coffee can be cultivated in the northern territories of Australia, but comparatively little is done with this crop; Queensland produces the largest amount.
Hawaii, &c.—In all the islands of the Hawaiian group coffee is grown, but nine-tenths or more is raised in Hawaii itself, the Kona district being the chief seat of production. The exports go mostly to the United States, and there is also a large local consumption.
Coffee thrives well also in the Philippines and Guam.
The World’s Trade.—The following figures, from theYear-bookof the U.S. Department of Agriculture, indicate the relative importance of the coffee-exporting countries.
In 1906 there was an increased total of 2,680,855,878 ℔, due to the Brazil export rising to 1,847,367,771 ℔. The aggregate value of the coffee annually entering the world’s markets is about £40,000,000.
Coffee Consumption.—The United States of America consume nearly one half of all the coffee exported from the producing countries of the world. This might of course be due merely to the States containing more coffee-drinkers than other countries, but the average consumption per head in the country is about 11 to 12 ℔ per annum, an amount equalled or excelled only in Norway, Sweden and Holland. Whilst one great branch of the Anglo-Saxon stock is near the head of the list, it is interesting to note that the United Kingdom and also Canada and Australia are almost at the foot, using only about 1 ℔ of coffee per head each year. Germany, with a consumption of about 6 to 7 ℔ per person per annum uses considerably less than a quarter of the world’s commercial crop. France, about 5 ℔ per head, takes about one eighth; and Austria-Hungary, about 2 ℔, uses some one-sixteenth. Holland consumes approximately as much, but with a much smaller population, the Dutch using more per head than any other people—14 ℔ to 15 ℔ per annum. Their taste is seen also in the relatively high consumption in South Africa. Sweden, Belgium and the United Kingdom, follow next in order of total amount used.
In many tropical countries much coffee is drunk, but as it is often produced locally exact figures are not available. The average consumption in the United Kingdom is about 50,000,000 lb per annum; about one-fifth only is produced in the British empire, and of this about nineteen-twentieths come from India and one-twentieth from the British West Indies.
Coffee-leaf Disease.—The coffee industry in Ceylon was ruined by the attack of a fungoid disease (Hemileia vastatrix) known as the Ceylon coffee-leaf disease. This has since extended its ravages into every coffee-producing country in the Old World, and added greatly to the difficulties of successful cultivation. The fungus is a microscopic one, the minute spores of which, carried by the wind, settle and germinate upon the leaves of the plant. The fungal growth spreads through the substance to the leaf, robbing the leaf of its nourishment and causing it to wither and fall. An infected plantation may be cleansed, and the fungus in its nascent state destroyed, by powdering the trees with a mixture of lime and sulphur, but, unless the access of fresh spores brought by the wind can be arrested, the plantations may be readily reinfected when the lime and sulphur are washed off by rain. The separation of plantations by belts of trees to windward is suggested as a check to the spread of the disease.
Fig. 2.—Coffee-leaf Disease,Hemileia vastatrix.1, Part of leaf showing diseased patches.2, Cluster of uredospores.3, Transverse section of a diseased patch in the leaf showing the hyphae of the fungus pushing between the leaf-cells and tapping them for nourishment. The hyphae have broken through in the upper face and are forming a cluster of spores.6, A uredospore germinating, the germ-tube is penetrating the leaf.5, A teleutospore.4, Ripe uredospores.7, Uredospore germinating.u, Uredospore.t, Teleutospore.2-7, Highly magnified.
1, Part of leaf showing diseased patches.
2, Cluster of uredospores.
3, Transverse section of a diseased patch in the leaf showing the hyphae of the fungus pushing between the leaf-cells and tapping them for nourishment. The hyphae have broken through in the upper face and are forming a cluster of spores.
6, A uredospore germinating, the germ-tube is penetrating the leaf.
5, A teleutospore.
4, Ripe uredospores.
7, Uredospore germinating.
u, Uredospore.
t, Teleutospore.
2-7, Highly magnified.
Microscopic Structure.—Raw coffee seeds are tough and horny in structure, and are devoid of the peculiar aroma and taste which are so characteristic of the roasted seeds. The minute structure of coffee allows it to be readily recognized by means of the microscope, and as roasting does not destroy its distinguishing peculiarities, microscopic examination forms the readiest means of determining the genuineness of any sample. The substance of the seed, according to Dr Hassall, consists “of an assemblageof vesicles or cells of an angular form, which adhere so firmly together that they break up into pieces rather than separate into distinct and perfect cells. The cavities of the cells include, in the form of little drops, a considerable quantity of aromatic volatile oil, on the presence of which the fragrance and many of the active principles of the berry depend” (see fig. 3).
Physiological Action.—Coffee belongs to the medicinal or auxiliary class of food substances, being solely valuable for its stimulant effect upon the nervous and vascular system. It produces a feeling of buoyancy and exhilaration comparable to a certain stage of alcoholic intoxication, but which does not end in depression or collapse. It increases the frequency of the pulse, lightens the sensation of fatigue, and it sustains the strength under prolonged and severe muscular exertion. The value of its hot infusion under the rigours of Arctic cold has been demonstrated in the experience of all Arctic explorers, and it is scarcely less useful in tropical regions, where it beneficially stimulates the action of the skin.
The physiological action of coffee mainly depends on the presence of the alkaloid caffeine, which occurs also in tea, Paraguay tea, and cola nuts, and is very similar to theobromine, the active principle in cocoa. The percentage of caffeine present varies in the different species ofCoffea. In Arabian coffee it ranges from about 0.7 to 1.6%; in Liberian coffee from 1.0 to 1.5%. Sierra Leone coffee (C. stenophylla) contains from 1.52 to 1.70%; inC. excelsa1.89% is recorded, and as much as 1.97% inC. canephora. Four species have been shown by M. G. Bertrand to contain no caffeine at all, but instead a considerable quantity of a bitter principle. All these four species are found only in Madagascar or the neighbouring islands. Other coffees grown there contain caffeine as usual. Coffee, with the caffeine extracted, has also been recently prepared for the market. The commercial value of coffee is determined by the amount of the aromatic oil, caffeone, which develops in it by the process of roasting. By prolonged keeping it is found that the richness of any seeds in this peculiar oil is increased, and with increased aroma the coffee also yields a blander and more mellow beverage. Stored coffee loses weight at first with great rapidity, as much as 8% having been found to dissipate in the first year of keeping, 5% in the second, and 2% in the third; but such loss of weight is more than compensated by improvement in quality and consequent enhancement of value.
Roasting.—In the process of roasting, coffee seeds swell up by the liberation of gases within their substance,—their weight decreasing in proportion to the extent to which the operation is carried. Roasting also develops with the aromatic caffeone above alluded to a bitter soluble principle, and it liberates a portion of the caffeine from its combination with the caffetannic acid. Roasting is an operation of the greatest nicety, and one, moreover, of a crucial nature, for equally by insufficient and by excessive roasting much of the aroma of the coffee is lost; and its infusion is neither agreeable to the palate nor exhilarating in its influence. The roaster must judge of the amount of heat required for the adequate roasting of different qualities, and while that is variable, the range of roasting temperature proper for individual kinds is only narrow. In continental countries it is the practice to roast in small quantities, and thus the whole charge is well under the control of the roaster; but in Britain large roasts are the rule, in dealing with which much difficulty is experienced in producing uniform torrefaction, and in stopping the process at the proper moment. The coffee-roasting apparatus is usually a malleable iron cylinder mounted to revolve over the fire on a hollow axle which allows the escape of gases generated during torrefaction. The roasting of coffee should be done as short a time as practicable before the grinding for use, and as ground coffee especially parts rapidly with its aroma, the grinding should only be done when coffee is about to be prepared.
Adulteration.—Although by microscopic, physical and chemical tests the purity of coffee can be determined with perfect certainty, yet ground coffee is subjected to many and extensive adulterations (see alsoAdulteration). Chief among the adulterant substances, if it can be so called, is chicory; but it occupies a peculiar position, since very many people on the European continent as well as in Great Britain deliberately prefer a mixture of chicory with coffee to pure coffee. Chicory is indeed destitute of the stimulant alkaloid and essential oil for which coffee is valued; but the facts that it has stood the test of prolonged and extended use, and that its infusion is, in some localities, used alone, indicate that it performs some useful function in connexion with coffee, as used at least by Western communities. For one thing, it yields a copious amount of soluble matter in infusion with hot water, and thus gives a specious appearance of strength and substance to what may be really only a very weak preparation of coffee. The mixture of chicory with coffee is easily detected by the microscope, the structure of both, which they retain after torrefaction, being very characteristic and distinct. The granules of coffee, moreover, remain hard and angular when mixed with water, to which they communicate but little colour; chicory, on the other hand, swelling up and softening, yields a deep brown colour to water in which it is thrown. The specific gravity of an infusion of chicory is also much higher than that of coffee. Among the numerous other substances used to adulterate coffee are roasted and ground roots of the dandelion, carrot, parsnip and beet; beans, lupins and other leguminous seeds; wheat, rice and various cereal grains; the seeds of the broom, fenugreek and iris; acorns; “negro coffee,” the seeds ofCassia occidentalis, the seeds of the ochro (Hibiscus esculentus), and also the soja or soy bean (Glycine Soya). Not only have these with many more similar substances been used as adulterants, but under various high-sounding names several of them have been introduced as substitutes for coffee; but they have neither merited nor obtained any success, and their sole effect has been to bring coffee into undeserved disrepute with the public.
Not only is ground coffee adulterated, but such mixtures as flour, chicory and coffee, or even bran and molasses, have been made up to simulate coffee beans and sold as such.
The leaves of the coffee tree contain caffeine in larger proportion than the seeds themselves, and their use as a substitute for tea has frequently been suggested. The leaves are actually so used in Sumatra, but being destitute of any attractive aroma such as is possessed by both tea and coffee, the infusion is not palatable. It is, moreover, not practicable to obtain both seeds and leaves from the same plant, and as the commercial demand is for the seed alone, no consideration either of profit or of any dietetic or economic advantage is likely to lead to the growth of coffee trees on account of their leaves.