ON THE COMPOSITION AND USE OF CHOCOLATE. ] g<$ 



and finally ground with an iron roller on a calcareous (lone, 

 the furface of which is worn by the friction, and affords the 

 lime. 



" If the cocoa was roafted in a vefTel of lefs oxidable me- Propofed alter • 

 tal, or in well baked earthen-ware ; if the parte was ground atl0ns ' 

 on a granite or a porphyry with a roller of the fame materials, 

 the chocolate would contain neither lime nor iron. In mani- 

 pulations on a large fcale, metallic fubftances are often intro- 

 duced into the fubjects of operation. Hence the extract of 

 tamarinds, and more particularly the extract of liquorice (Spa- 

 nish juice,) contains fo great a quantity of copper, that this 

 metal is frequently vifible at the firft infpeclion; for the fame 

 reafon apothecaries are obliged to purify them to avoid thofe 

 ferious accidents they might occafion. 



" I was curious to know what was the proportion of metal proportions of 

 and earth thus introduced into the chocolate. I repeated the Sauced? 6 

 experiments with care on quantities accurately weighed, and 

 I afcertained that five hectogrammes (one pound) contained 

 twenty-four decigrammes (forty-eight grains) of lime, and 

 twenty decigrammes (thirty-fix grains) of iron J this propor- 

 tion is th« minimum. Thus a map who takes a cup of choco- 

 late daily, at the end of the year has eaten eight hundred and 

 fixty-four decigrammes (three ounces) of lime, and feven 

 hundred and forty decigrammes (two ounces two gros) of iron,. 



" As iron is a falubrious metal and as the proportion of the 

 lime in the chocolate is not very confiderable, no uneafinefs 

 need be formed refpecting the ufe of this aliment ; neverthelefs, Utility of analy* 

 I am of opinion that pliyficians will perceive the utility of col- fing allments « 

 lecting the analyfes of the different fubftances ufed for the 

 nouriftiment of mankind. Until our perfect growth, the deve- 

 lopement and folidification of our bones requires that we fhould 

 abforb from our food a certain quantity of lime ; and we re- 

 collect with intereii the labours of Citizens Vauquelin and 

 Alexander Brogniart, who found lime in flour, and who cal- 

 culated that a man who confumes only one pound of bread in 

 a day will have eaten near two pounds of lime at the year's 

 end. 



" When a man has arrived at the fumroit of his growth, Phyfiologica! 



he has no longer occafion for the fame quantity of lime ; hence 



it is found abundantly in his urine and excrements; but as this 



earth, in the different digeftive pafTages meets with different 



3 acids 



