We make the following extract from a report to the American Institute on the Adulteration of Food in New York. There can no doubt, that in some instances the vilest substances are compounded with the luxuries, and even the necessaries of life, in all our large cities; in other instan. ces comparatively innocent articles are used for the same purpose.

"The Committee having the subject of 'Frauds' under consideration, finding it too voluminous for one essay, propose to divide it into compartments - giving the first to 'Coffee,'

"The tree, bearing this useful and world-cherished berry, is said to be indigenous in Southern Abyssinia, growing like a wild weed over the rocky surface of the country. The roasted seed has been used from time immemorial. In Persia, as early as A. D. 875; in Arabia, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, and a century later we find it in general use in Constantinople. The first coffeehouse in London was opened in 1652, by a Greek named Pasqua, and twenty years later it found its way to France. There, and in other countries, it is now the daily and almost necessary drink of hundreds of millions of people. Of the increase of the cultivation and export of coffee, we may well judge from the fret that the European consumption a few years ago amounted to 186 millions of pounds, while it takes 600 millions of pounds to supply the coffee-drinking world at the present time.

"A remark or two on the coffee-tree may not be uninteresting. It delights in a dry soil and a warm situation, attains in different countries the height of eight, ten, and sometimes twenty feet, bears a dark and shining foliage, and (under favorable circumstances) yields its fruit for twenty years. If used and not abused, it may be considered one of 'Heaven's best gifts' to man.

"It exhilarates, strengthens, allays hunger, and imparts to the weary traveller both comfort and repose. The genuine berry contains three valuable ingredients, viz.: a volatile oil, (produced in the roasting,) a variety of tannic acid, and the substance called 'theine,' or 'caffeine,' (which is common to both coffee and tea.) In this (as its original state) it is probably cheaper than any of its substitutes, which (wanting these elements) are not coffee at all; but, alas! it is seldom allowed to stand on its own merits. The desire to avoid the ' tax,' (which makes coffee an expensive indulgence, aided by that 'love of money' which is the 'root of many evils,' prompts to 'tricks of the trade,' beginning with those who 'cheat a little to make an honest living,' and ending with those who cheat without visit-ings of conscience. From the first, (who advertise 'pure coffee at 20 cents per pound,') you may breakfast on a beverage made from five pounds of coffee and two pounds of chickory. From the last, you may be thankful if the peas and beans burnt and ground for your morning draught were not discolored and spoiled before you bought them as 'a genuine article.'

"Frauds to an increasing extent are practiced on those who buy ground spices. The 'mustard,' so nicely boxed and labeled, is not mustard at all. In most cases it is the meal of yellow kiln dried corn, ground fine and flavored with cayenne pepper. 'Ginger' is often made of similar ingredients, with the addition of some of the original article to give it taste and smell, 'Ground pepper' is frequently made of pilot-bread burnt in baking, or damaged by a long voyage; and there is one firm in this city engaged in buying this refuse stuff from ships, and selling it again as 'pepper,' after a sufficient amount of the genuine is mixed with it to 'swear fly.' To guard against these impositions, (or one of them,) we propose to re-establish the good old coffee-mill. It will prove a better guard against the grocers than an army of policemen; and if you are fond of prolonging morning reveries, what could be a more agreeable reminder of getting-up time than the coffee-mill?

"The newspapers are now freely discussing substitutes for coffee. Burnt rye, wheat, barley, sweet potatoes, chestnuts, acorns, burnt bread, each has its advocate, and all may answer for those who, with limited sensibilities, know not what coffee is. Not one of these articles will make coffee, and if their merit is being cheap, water is cheaper.

"The seeds and roots of many West India and South American plants have been introduced as substitutes for coffee. The only one we have time to notice is the "Succory," "Chickory," or Wild Endive, a weed with large pale blue flowers, and having a white tap-root like the parsnip or oyster plant. This root abounds in a bitter juice, which has led to its use as a substitute for coffee. It is found to be much improved by cultivation, and is now so much used as to have become an important crop. You may find it growing in some of the counties of England, but much more in Prussia, Belgium, and France. It is grown also in parts of South America, and its cultivation is being introduced into our own country, especially on Long Island. This root, when dried, roasted, and ground, so exactly resembles genuine coffee, as to be a first rate article for adulterating purposes, and has now been used so long in that way as to have created a taste, and there are many people who think they have been cheated, if their coffee has not the flavor given to it by chickory. They have become educated to like a bitter coffee.

It is now estimated that' France uses annually twelve millions of pounds, and in some parts of Germany the women are regular chickory-topers.

"Some of the ingredients of this weed bear a partial resemblance to those of tea and coffee, but when taken unmixed, by those unaccustomed to it, it is disagreeable and nauseous to a high degree. The taste, however, is soon acquired, and as it has some strengthening and tonic properties, it is probably not injurious if taken moderately, but by prolonged and frequent use, it produces heart-burns, cramps in the stomach, loss of appetite, acidity in the mouth, weakness of the limbs, trembling, sleeplessness, and a drunken cloudiness of the senses.

"An admixture of chickory in coffee can be detected by putting it in cold water; it is soluble, and imparts its color to the water in proportion to its quantity. The coffee is insoluble in cold water, and, of course, gives it no color. Johnston tells us, in his Chemistry of Common Things, another reason why the use of chickory should be avoided by those who can afford to buy pure coffee, is found in the fact that pure chickory is as difficult to be met with in the market, as unadulterated coffee. Venetian red is very commonly employed to impart to the chickory a true coffee color; and it is curious to observe how the practice of adulteration extends itself from trade to trade. The coffee-dealer adulterates his coffee with chickory, to increase his profits; the chickory-maker adulterates his chickory with Venetian red, to please the eye of the coffee-dealer; and, lastly, the Venetian red manufacturer grinds up his colors with brick dust, that by greater cheapness, and variety of shades, he may secure the chickory trader's patronage.

"In conclusion, we ask every housewife to help us in our efforts to break up this nefarious trade. Buy no more coffee ready ground. The pure article at its full price is cheaper than any other mixtures, no matter how low the price asked.

"In buying these ground mixtures you not only cheat yourselves, but you put money into the pockets of dishonest dealers that you suppose goes towards paying the just and necessary tax, now required by our government to save itself from threatened destruction.

"If you can not afford the genuine article, roast your own rye or barley, or drink milk or water, but give no more money for these fraudulent mixtures".