Original Linnaean Dissertations
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Lidén Number 118
Respondent: Henric Sparschuch (1742-1786)
Title: ... in qua Potus Coffee leviter adumbratur, ...
Date of Defense: 16 December 1761
Paginations: [ii], [1], 2-18, 1 plate
Lidén Title: Potus coffeae.
Soulsby Title: Pot. coff.
Drake Title: Potus Coffeae.
Note:
Abstract: A medico-botanical study of coffee as a beverage, of the coffee plant (Coffea arabica L.), and of the harvesting and preparation of coffee beans. An historical review of the use of the beverage is given, noting that Europe's first "coffee house" was opened in Marseilles in 1671. The preparation of different kinds of coffee, utilizing many other ground seeds as flavorants, is described.The account treats it to be more important for medicinal usage than as a beverage, noting it to be an anti-aphrodisiac, noxious to mental illnesses, and responsible for excessive flatulence and indigestion (allegedly sometimes fatal) when ingested to excess. Linnaeus reported that headaches are frequently relieved by drinking coffee.