Caffeine is a pseudoalkaloid.

[T]he ſhell of teredo is diſtinguiſhed as being tubular, cylindrical, and open at both ends, lower orifice furniſhed with two lozenge-ſhaped valves, and the upper with two ſpatulous opercules.

The mere fact that this type of lateen no longer exists in the Mediterranean proves nothing; it is always possible that it might have originated there and later given way there to the still superior triangular form. But there are more substantial reasons for believing that the lateen came from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. The earliest evidence of the existence of lateens in the Mediterranean is in Greek Byzantine manuscripts of the late ninth century, which show drawings of lateens (Plates 5 and 6).

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