English coffeehouses of the 17th and 18th Century have been the subject of a voluminous literature because of their remarkable role in facilitating public debate on the issues of scientific experimentation, constitutional principals, and religion, as well as serving as a forum for leisure, the conduct of business, and the proliferation of newspapers. (Willis,"European Consumption and Asian Production," 133.)⁹ Yet one cannot discount the material aspects, including the coffee "dishes", as significant attractions to coffeehouse culture.