[1] Some 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).
COENWULF (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 Praen, and made his own brother Cuthred king. Cuthred reigned in
Kent from 798 to 807, when he died, and Coenwulf 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. Coenwulf 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 Cwoenthryth, daughter
and heiress of Coenwulf, with Wulfred was terminated. Coenwulf may
have instigated the raid of Aethelmund, 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 the _Anglo-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.
COEUR, JACQUES (_c._ 1395-1456), founder of the trade between France
and the Levant, was born at Bourges, in which city his father, Pierre
Coeur, was a rich merchant. Jacques is first heard of about 1418, when
he married Macee de Leodepart, daughter of Lambert de Leodepart, 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 Coeur 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 Coeur 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 (see HOUSE, 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 Lucon, 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 Coeur'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 Coeur, Jeanne de Vendome,
wife of Francois 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-two
months of confinement in five prisons, he was condemned to do public
penance for his fault, to pay the king a sum equal to about L1,000,000
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 Coeur, 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. Coeur 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 Coeur's sons to come into possession of whatever was
left of their father's wealth.
See the admirable monograph of Pierre Clement, _Jacques Coeur et
Charles VII_ (1858, 2nd ed. 1874); A. Valet de Viriville, _Charles
Sept et son epoque_ (3 vols., 1862-1865); and Louisa Costello,
_Jacques Coeur, the French Argonaut_ (London, 1847).
COEUR D'ALENE ("awl-heart," the French translation of the native name
_skitswish_), 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: _cafe_, Ger. _Kaffee_). This important and valuable article
of food is the produce chiefly of _Coffea 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'h[=a]wah, although by some it has been traced
to Kaffa, a province in Abyssinia, in which the tree grows wild.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Branch of _Coffea arabica_.]
The genus _Coffea_, 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.
excelsa_ is 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 2-1/2 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 deg. to 70 deg. 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 and scandalous 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
1-1/2 to 2 lb 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 Sao 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
lb 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 Sao 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 Sao 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
L1,500,000 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
L1,000,000 to L1,500,000 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 L500,000. 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."
_India_ is 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
L2,784,163. Ten years later they had fallen to L430,633, owing to the
ravages of the coffee-leaf disease. The output continued to decrease,
and the value of the crop in 1906 was only L17,258. 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 the _Year-book_ of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture, indicate the relative importance
of the coffee-exporting countries.
1904. 1905.
Country. Exports coffee Exports coffee
in lb. in lb.
_America_--
Brazil 1,326,027,795 1,431,328,038
Colombia 130,000,000 (est.) 70,000,000
Venezuela 128,000,000 " 94,370,090
Haiti 81,407,346 45,244,232
Salvador 75,314,003 61,822,223
Guatemala 71,653,700 81,081,600
Mexico 41,855,368 42,456,491
Costa Rica 27,730,672 39,788,002
Nicaragua 21,661,621 18,171,515
Porto Rico 15,330,590
Jamaica 5,781,440 9,046,464
_Asia_--
Dutch East Indies 77,168,254 72,864,649
British India 36,920,464 40,340,384
Singapore (port of export) 12,367,156 11,935,034
_Other countries_ 216,891,567 220,132,690
------------- -------------
Total 2,268,109,976 2,238,581,412
In 1906 there was an increased total of 2,680,855,878 lb, due to the
Brazil export rising to 1,847,367,771 lb. The aggregate value of the
coffee annually entering the world's markets is about L40,000,000.
_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 lb 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 lb of coffee per head each year.
Germany, with a consumption of about 6 to 7 lb per person per annum uses
considerably less than a quarter of the world's commercial crop. France,
about 5 lb per head, takes about one eighth; and Austria-Hungary, about
2 lb, 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 lb to 15 lb 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.
[Illustration: 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.
4, Ripe uredospores.
5, A teleutospore.
6, A uredospore germinating, the germ-tube is penetrating the leaf.
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 assemblage of 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).
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Microscopic structure of Coffee.]
_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 of
_Coffea_. 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%; in _C. excelsa_ 1.89% is recorded, and as
much as 1.97% in _C. 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 also
ADULTERATION). 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 of _Cassia 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.
(A. B. R.; W. G. F.)
COFFER (Fr. _coffre_, O. Fr. _cofre_ or _cofne_, Lat. _cophinus_, cf.
"coffin"), in architecture, a sunk panel in a ceiling or vault; also a
casket or chest in which jewels or precious goods were kept, and, if of
large dimensions, clothes. The marriage coffers in Italy were of
exceptional richness in their carving and gilding and were sometimes
painted by great artists.
COFFERDAM, in engineering. To enable foundations (q.v.) to be laid in a
site which is under water, the engineer sometimes surrounds it with an
embankment or dam, known as a cofferdam, to form an enclosure from which
the water is excluded. Where the depth of water is small and the current
slight, simple clay dams may be used, but in general cofferdams consist
of two rows of piles, the space between which is packed with clay
puddle. The dam must be sufficiently strong to withstand the exterior
pressure to which it is exposed when the enclosed space is pumped dry.
COFFEYVILLE, a city of Montgomery county, Kansas, U.S.A., on the
Verdigris river, about 150 m. S. of Topeka and near the southern
boundary of the state. Pop. (1890) 2282; (1900) 4953, of whom 803 were
negroes; (1905) 13,196; (1910) 12,687. Coffeyville is served by the
Missouri Pacific, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, the Missouri, Kansas
& Texas, and the Saint Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern railways, and by
inter-urban electric railway to Independence. It is in the Kansas
natural-gas field, ships large quantities of grain, and has a large zinc
oxide smelter and a large oil refinery, and various manufactures,
including vitrified brick and tile, flour, lumber, chemicals, window
glass, bottles, pottery and straw boards. The municipality owns and
operates its water-works and electric lighting plant. Coffeyville, named
in honour of A. M. Coffey, who was a member of the first legislature of
the territory of Kansas, was founded in 1869, but in 1871 it was removed
about 1 m. from its original site, now known as "old town." It was
incorporated as a city of the third class in 1872 and received a new
charter in 1887. Coffeyville became a station on the Leavenworth,
Lawrence & Galveston railway (now part of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa
Fe), and for several years large numbers of cattle were driven here from
Indian Territory and Texas for shipment; in fact, the city's chief
importance was as a trade centre for the north part of Indian Territory
until natural gas was found here in large quantities in 1892.
COFFIN (from Lat. _cophinus_, Gr. [Greek: kophinos], a coffer, chest or
basket, but never meaning "coffin" in its present sense), the receptacle
in which a corpse is confined. The Greeks and Romans disposed of their
dead both by burial and by cremation. Greek coffins varied in shape,
being in the form of an urn, or like the modern coffins, or triangular,
the body being in a sitting posture. The material used was generally
burnt clay, and in some cases this had obviously been first moulded
round the body, and so baked. Cremation was the commonest method of
disposing of the dead among the Romans, until the Christian era, when
stone coffins came into use. Examples of these have been frequently dug
up in England. In 1853, during excavations for the foundations of some
warehouses in Hayden Square, Minories, London, a Roman stone coffin was
found within which was a leaden shell. Others have been found at
Whitechapel, Stratford-le-Bow, Old Kent Road and Battersea Fields, and
in great numbers at Colchester, York, Southfleet and Kingsholme near
Gloucester. In early England stone coffins were only used by the nobles
and the wealthy. Those of the Romans who were rich enough had their
coffins made of a limestone brought from Assos in Troas, which it was
commonly believed "ate the body"; hence arose the name sarcophagus
(q.v.).
The coffins of the Chaldaeans were generally clay urns with the top left
open, resembling immense jars. These, too, must have been moulded round
the body, as the size of the mouth would not admit of its introduction
after the clay was baked. The Egyptian coffins, or sarcophagi, as they
have been improperly called, are the largest stone coffins known and are
generally highly polished and covered with hieroglyphics, usually a
history of the deceased. Mummy chests shaped to the form of the body
were also used. These were made of hard wood or _papier mache_ painted,
and like the stone coffins bore hieroglyphics. The Persians, Parthians,
Medes and peoples of the Caspian are not known to have had any coffins,
their usual custom being to expose the body to be devoured by beasts and
birds of prey. Unhewn flat stones were sometimes used by the ancient
European peoples to line the grave. One was placed at the bottom, others
stood on their edges to form the sides, and a large slab was put on top,
thus forming a rude cist. In England after the Roman invasion these rude
cists gave place to the stone coffin, and this, though varying much in
shape, continued in use until the 16th century.
The most primitive wooden coffin was formed of a tree-trunk split down
the centre, and hollowed out. The earliest specimen of this type is in
the Copenhagen museum, the implements found in it proving that it
belonged to the Bronze Age. This type of coffin, more or less modified
by planing, was used in medieval Britain by those of the better classes
who could not afford stone, but the poor were buried without coffins,
wrapped simply in cloth or even covered only with hay and flowers.
Towards the end of the 17th century, coffins became usual for all
classes. It is worth noting that in the Burial Service in the Book of
Common Prayer the word "coffin" is not used.
Among the American Indians some tribes, e.g. the Sacs, Foxes and Sioux,
used rough hewn wooden coffins; others, such as the Seris, sometimes
enclosed the corpse between the carapace and plastron of a turtle. The
Seminoles of Florida used no coffins, while at Santa Barbara,
California, canoes containing corpses have been found buried though they
may have been intended for the dead warrior's use in the next world.
Rough stone cists, too, have been found, especially in Illinois and
Kentucky. In their tree and scaffold burial the Indians sometimes used
wooden coffins, but oftener the bodies were simply wrapped in blankets.
Canoes mounted on a scaffold near a river were used as coffins by some
tribes, while others placed the corpse in a canoe or wicker basket and
floated them out into the stream or lake (see FUNERAL RITES). The
aborigines of Australia generally used coffins of bark, but some tribes
employed baskets of wicker-work.
Lead coffins were used in Europe in the middle ages, shaped like the
mummy chests of ancient Egypt. Iron coffins were more rare, but they
were certainly used in England and Scotland as late as the 17th century,
when an order was made that upon bodies so buried a heavier burial fee
should be levied. The coffins used in England to-day are generally of
elm or oak lined with lead, or with a leaden shell so as to delay as far
as possible the process of disintegration and decomposition. In America
glass is sometimes used for the lids, and the inside is lined with
copper or zinc. The coffins of France and Germany and the continent
generally, usually differ from those of England in not being of the
ordinary hexagonal shape but having sides and ends parallel. Coffins
used in cremation throughout the civilized world are of some light
material easily consumed and yielding little ash. Ordinary thin deal and
_papier mache_ are the favourite materials. Coffins for what is known as
Earth to Earth Burial are made of wicker-work covered with a thin layer
of _papier mache_ over cloth.
See also FUNERAL RITES; CREMATION; Burial and Burial Acts; EMBALMING;
MUMMY, &c.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Dr H. C. Yarrow, "Study of the Mortuary Customs of the
North American Indians," _Report of Bureau of Amer. Ethnol._ vol. i.
(Washington, U.S.A., 1881); Rev. Thomas Hugo, "On the Hayden Square
Sarcophagus," _Journ. of Archaeol. Soc._ vol. ix. (London, 1854); C.
V. Creagh, "On Unusual Forms of Burial by People of the East Coast of
Borneo," _J.A.I._, vol. xxvi. (London, 1896-1897); Rev. J. Edward
Vaux, _Church Folk-lore_ (1894).
COG. (1) (From an older _cogge_, a word which appears in various forms
in Teutonic languages, as in O. Ger. _kogge_ or _kocke_, and also in
Romanic, as in O. Fr. _cogue_, or _coque_, from which the Eng.
"cock-boat" is derived; the connexion between the Teutonic and the
Romanic forms is obscure), a broadly built, round-shaped ship, used as a
trader and also as a ship of war till the 15th century. (2) (A word of
obscure origin, possibly connected with Fr. _coche_, and Ital. _cocca_,
a notch; the Celtic forms _cog_ and _cocas_ come from the English), a
tooth in a series of teeth, morticed on to, or cut out of the
circumference of a wheel, which works with the tooth in a corresponding
series on another wheel (see MECHANICS). (3) (Also of quite obscure
origin), a slang term for a form of cheating at dice. The early uses of
the word show that this was done not by "loading" the dice, as the
modern use of the expression of "cogged dice" seems to imply, but by
sleight of hand in directing the fall or in changing the dice.
COGERS HALL, a London tavern debating society. It was instituted in 1755
at the White Bear Inn (now St Bride's Tavern), Fleet Street, moved about
1850 to Discussion Hall, Shoe Lane, and in 1871 finally migrated to the
Barley Mow Inn, Salisbury Square, E.C., its present quarters. The name
is often wrongly spelt Codgers and Coggers; the "o" is really long, the
accepted derivation being from Descartes' _Cogito, ergo sum_, and thus
meaning "The society of thinkers." The aims of the Cogers were "the
promotion of the liberty of the subject and the freedom of the Press,
the maintenance of loyalty to the laws, the rights and claims of
humanity and the practice of public and private virtue." Among its early
members Cogers Hall reckoned John Wilkes, one of its first presidents,
and Curran, who in 1773 writes to a friend that he spent a couple of
hours every night at the Hall. Later Dickens was a prominent member.
See Peter Rayleigh, _History of Ye Antient Society of Cogers_ (London,
1904).
COGHLAN, CHARLES FRANCIS (1841-1899), Irish actor, was born in Paris,
and was educated for the law. He made his first London appearance in
1860, and became the leading actor at the Prince of Wales's. He went to
America in 1876, where he remained for the rest of his life, playing
first in Augustin Daly's company and then in the Union Square stock
company, during the long run of _The Celebrated Case_. He also played
with his sister, and in support of Mrs Langtry and Mrs Fiske, and in
1898 produced a version of Dumas' _Kean_, called _The Royal Box_, in
which he successfully starred during the last years of his life. He died
in Galveston, Texas, on the 27th of November 1899.
His sister, the actress ROSE COGHLAN (1853- ), went to America in 1871,
was again in England from 1873 to 1877, playing with Barry Sullivan, and
then returned to America, where she became prominent as Countess Zicka
in _Diplomacy_, and Stephanie in _Forget-me-not_. She was at Wallack's
almost continuously until 1888, and subsequently appeared in melodrama
in parts like the title-role of _The Sporting Duchess_.
COGNAC, a town of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in
the department of Charente, on the left bank of the river Charente, 32
m. W. of Angouleme on the Ouest-Etat railway, between Angouleme and
Saintes. Pop. (1906) 18,389. The streets of the old town--which borders
the river--are narrow and tortuous, but the newer parts are well
provided with open spaces. The chief of these is the beautiful Parc
Francois 1er overlooking the Charente. In one of the squares there is a
statue of Francis I., who was born here. The chief building is a church
of the 12th century dedicated to St Leger, which preserves a fine
Romanesque facade and a tower of the 15th century. A castle of the 15th
and 16th centuries, once the residence of the counts of Angouleme, now a
storehouse for brandy, and a medieval gate stand in the older part of
the town. Cognac is the seat of a subprefect and has tribunals of first
instance and of commerce, a council of trade arbitrators, a chamber of
commerce, and consulates of the United States, Spain and Portugal. Its
most important industry is the distillation of the brandy (q.v.) to
which the town gives its name. Large quantities are carried, by way of
the river, to the neighbouring port of Tonnay-Charente. The industries
subsidiary to the brandy trade, such as the making of cases and bottles,
occupy many hands. Ironware is also manufactured, and a considerable
trade is maintained in grain and cattle. In 1526 Cognac gave its name to
a treaty concluded against Charles V. by Francis I., the pope, Venice
and Milan. Its possession was contested during the wars of religion, and
in 1570 it became one of the Huguenot strongholds. In 1651 it
successfully sustained a siege against Louis II., prince of Conde,
leader of the Fronde.
See _Le Pays du Cognac_, by L. Ravaz, for a description of the
district and its viticulture.
COGNITION (Latin _cognitio_, from _cognoscere_, to become acquainted
with), in psychology, a term used in its most general sense for all
modes of being conscious or aware of an object, whether material or
intellectual. It is an ultimate mode of consciousness, strictly the
presentation (through sensation or otherwise) of an object to
consciousness; in its complete form, however, it seems to involve a
judgment, i.e. the separation from other objects of the object
presented. The psychological theory of cognition takes for granted the
dualism of the mind that knows and the object known; it takes no account
of the metaphysical problem as to the possibility of a relation between
the ego and the non-ego, but assumes that such a relation does exist.
Cognition is therefore distinct from emotion and conation; it has no
psychological connexion with feelings of pleasure and pain, nor does it
tend as such to issue in action.
For the analysis of cognition-reactions see O. Kulpe, _Outlines of
Psychology_ (Eng. trans., 1895), pp. 411 foll.; E. B. Titchener,
_Experimental Psychology_ (1905), ii. 187 foll. On cognition
generally, G. F. Stout's _Analytic Psychology and Manual of
Psychology_; W. James's _Principles of Psychology_ (1890), i. 216
foll.; also article PSYCHOLOGY.
COGNIZANCE (Lat. _cognoscere_, to know), knowledge, notice, especially
judicial notice, the right of trying or considering a case judicially,
the exercise of jurisdiction by a court of law. In heraldry a
"cognizance" is an emblem, badge or device, used as a distinguishing
mark by the body of retainers of a royal or noble house.
COHEN (Hebrew for "priest"), a Jewish family name, implying descent from
the ancient Hebrew priests. Many families claiming such descent are,
however, not named Cohen. Other forms of the name are Cohn, Cowen, Kahn.
See J. Jacobs, _Jewish Encyclopedia_, iv. 144.
COHN, FERDINAND JULIUS (1828-1898), German botanist, was born on the
24th of January 1828 at Breslau. He was educated at Breslau and Berlin,
and in 1859 became extraordinary, and in 1871 ordinary, professor of
botany at Breslau University. He had a remarkable career, owing to his
Jewish origin. He was contemporary with N. Pringsheim, and worked with
H. R. Goeppert, C. G. Nees von Esenbeck, C. G. Ehrenberg and Johannes
Muller. At an early date he exhibited astonishing ability with the
microscope, which he did much to improve, and his researches on
cell-walls and the growth and contents of plant-cells soon attracted
attention, especially as he made remarkable advances in the
establishment of an improved cell-theory, discovered the cilia in, and
analysed the movements of, zoospores, and pointed out that the
protoplasm of the plant-cell and the sarcode of the zoologists were one
and the same physical vehicle of life. Although these early researches
were especially on the Algae, in which group he instituted marked
reforms of the rigid system due to F. T. Kutzing, Cohn had already
displayed that activity in various departments which made him so famous
as an all-round naturalist, his attention at various times being turned
to such varied subjects as _Aldorovanda_, torsion in trees, the nature
of waterspouts, the effects of lightning, physiology of seeds, the
proteid crystals in the potato, which he discovered, the formation of
travertin, the rotatoria, luminous worms, &c.
It is, however, in the introduction of the strict biological and
philosophical analysis of the life-histories of the lower and most
minute forms of life that Cohn's greatest achievements consist, for he
applied to these organisms the principle that we can only know the
phases of growth of microscopic plants by watching every stage of
development under the microscope, just as we learn how different are the
youthful and adult appearances of an oak or a fern by direct
observation. The success with which he attempted and carried out the
application of cultural and developmental methods on the Algae, Fungi
and Bacteria can only be fully appreciated by those familiar with the
minute size and elusive evolutions of these organisms, and with the
limited appliances at Cohn's command. Nevertheless his account of the
life-histories of _Protococcus_ (1850), _Stephanosphaera_ (1852),
_Volvox_ (1856 and 1875), _Hydrodictyon_ (1861), and _Sphaeroplea_
(1855-1857) among the Algae have never been put aside. The first is a
model of what a study in development should be; the last shares with G.
Thuret's studies on _Fucus_ and Pringsheim's on _Vaucheria_ the merit of
establishing the existence of a sexual process in Algae. Among the Fungi
Cohn contributed important researches on _Pilobolus_ (1851), _Empusa_
(1855), _Tarichium_ (1869), as well as valuable work on the nature of
parasitism of Algae and Fungi.
It is as the founder of bacteriology that Cohn's most striking claims to
recognition will be established. He seems to have been always attracted
particularly by curious problems of fermentation and coloration due to
the most minute forms of life, as evinced by his papers on _Monas
prodigiosa_ (1850) and "Uber blutahnliche Farbungen" (1850), on
infusoria (1851 and 1852), on organisms in drinking-water (1853), "Die
Wunder des Blutes" (1854), and had already published several works on
insect epidemics (1869-1870) and on plant diseases, when his first
specially bacteriological memoir (_Crenothrix_) appeared in the
journal, _Beitrage zur Biologie_, which he then started (1870-1871), and
which has since become so renowned. Investigations on other branches of
bacteriology soon followed, among which "Organismen der Pockenlymphe"
(1872) and "Untersuchungen uber Bacterien" (1872-1875) are most
important, and laid the foundations of the new department of science
which has now its own laboratories, literature and workers specially
devoted to its extension in all directions. When it is remembered that
Cohn brought out and helped R. Koch in publishing his celebrated paper
on _Anthrax_ (1876), the first clearly worked out case of a bacterial
disease, the significance of his influence on bacteriology becomes
apparent.