September i, 1884.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



223 



black instead of a dull reddish brown. By the fermentation, 

 which seems indispensable, the slimy and sugary pod 

 loosens, the colour changes, and the smell undergoes a 

 modification. Without this process the bean tastes' acrid, 

 nay even sour. 



For exportation to Europe, the second of the formerly 

 mentioned fermentation methods is practised; namely, the 

 beans are shaken into vessels the covers of which are weighted 

 with stones, and these are put in a closed apartment exposed 

 to the sun's rays. In this room, usually called the sweating 

 room, the beans are left for a comparatively short time, 

 3 or 4 days, exposed to the temperature of 60" Celsius 

 (=140° F.); they hereby lose a good deal of water along 

 with the acrid, astringent principle, become, of course, 

 lighter, acquire a sweet agreeable smell and flavour and 

 a cinnamon colour, while the skin is easily detached. The 

 fluid, which they exude, is thrown away by some, but by 

 others it is employed for preparing vinegar and a kind of 

 spirituous liquor. 



After undergoing this process, the beans are carried to 

 the drying lioust ; this is a wooden shed, sometimes simply 

 a pent house. In the first case the shed is provided with 

 a moveable roof and good ventilation. In this place the 

 beans are spread out upon mats, after being first well 

 rubbed with a little so-called red earth, or with ashes ; this 

 operation is performed to remove the slimy stuff that may 

 still adhere to the beans. 



Too great a heat must be avoided here, because a too 

 rapid drying would cause the beans to burst, and thence 

 produce mouldiness and decay. During the drying, the 

 beans must be well turned now and then ; one workman 

 will suffice for this in a locality SO or CO ft. broad. Perfect 

 dryiug requires 10 a VS weeks. 



Drying under a pint house is being more and more 

 abandoned, because .the beans are then apt to be. stolen 

 away by human and other pilferers. At present buildings 

 with glass roof s and sufficient ventilation are in use, whereby 

 pilfering is prevented, while the product itself gains in 

 quality; these buildings also give an economy of labour, 

 as the beans can then be left all night spread out, while 

 in the open sheds, they must be put up every evening 

 and spread out again every morning. This collecting and 

 heaping up of the beans at night seems to have an 

 injurious effect on the quality. 



Good cocoa can be known by the following characteristics : — 

 The beans must be — also within — of alight reddish brown 

 colour, and brittle, ripe, dry, not musty, but of a some- 

 what aromatic scent. 



After this view of the culture and further preparation 

 of the fruit, we shall now give a description of the choco- 

 late in its various forms and preparations. 

 B. — Chocolate. 

 Before using the cocoa the bean must be first roasted, 

 as is the case with coffee. This is generally done in a kind 

 of drums over a gentle fire, when it emits a peculiar aroma. 

 By this roasting the bean becomes more brittle and at 

 the same time a little lighter of colour; it also loses its 

 acrid astringent qualities and bitter taste. 



After this treatment, the bean prepared and . worked in 

 several ways is brought into the trade under various 

 appellations. 



The first form is that of the peeled beans, which are 

 pressed into small pieces and retailed as cocoa nibs; these 

 are, indeed, the purest form under which cocoa can be 

 bought in the retail trade. They must be of a dull greyish 

 red colour; yet they are but too often coloured with 

 Venetian red. 



The second form is that of powdered chocolate. To pre- 

 pare this the roasted beans are ground in a mill, consisting 

 mostly in two metal balls working into each other. The 

 thus ground powder contains no additional sugar, only a 

 little meal. It constitutes, therefore, after the cocoa-nibs, 

 the purest form of cocoa. 



The third form is the so-called soluble cocoa. This is 

 the form in which cocoa is most used. It consists of the 

 roasted nibs, which after being ground are mixed up with 

 various quantities of starch and sugar. 



The starchy substances ought properly to be of sago 

 or arrowroot, but a number of cases occur in which other 

 starches mixed with colouring matter are employed. 



The fourth form is that of the so-called choc lot . This 

 consists of the beans peeled and ground between heated 



rollers to a paste, mixed with sugar and various spices — 

 especially vanilla — and then pressed into moulds. After 

 cooling they form the chocolate cakes or tablets. 



Besides these there are a couple of other forms, viz. I. — 

 The coco, consisting in roasted Leans bruised to a warm paste 

 in a mortar, and then ground between two heated rollers 

 and kneaded to a dough with some starch and sugar. II. — The 

 skins of the cocoa-beans mixed with inferior sorts of cocoa, 

 and thus, especially in England and Ireland among the lower 

 classes of people under the name of miserable, boiled with 

 water and then drunk. 



Concerning the origin of the word chocolate. Van Oorkom 

 says, in the above mentioned work, Be Oost-Indischt Cultures. 

 Vol. II.. p. 476, the following:— 



" When Oortez conquered Mexico in 1516, he found the 

 cocoa-tree as a characteristic plant of the country; the beans 

 even served as money. Under the name of chocolatl, from 

 clwco-=-cocoa and latle=-water, they prepared a rather un- 

 sightly beverage, from the roasted, peeled and powdered 

 beans boiled up with a little water, to which sometimes 

 maize meal and spices were added. 



The brew thus obtained showed like a foaming mass, of 

 a consistence like honey, which was taken cold. At the 

 expense of Montezama II. 50 cups were prepared daily for 

 £ and 200 for his courtiers. The better classes mixed 

 no maize in their beverage, but used to add honey, vanilla, 

 etc. ; at the Court it used to be taken with gold spoons, 

 out of gold vessels. 



The Spaniards at the time found warehouses full of cocoa- 

 beans, but even at the present day the Mexicans are as 

 fond of it as ever, and are great consumers, so that con- 

 le imports from abroad are required to supply the 

 deficiency of the home produce." 



\V r e generally make our chocolate in the following manner. 

 The necessary quantity is mashed in a kettle with a little 

 hot water poured over it. Then it is well mixed to a smooth 

 paste, and then the kettle is filled up with boiling milk, 

 or else with boiling milk and boiling water. To this is 

 added sugar to taste. 



What we call water-chocolate is only an emulsion of 

 soluble cocoa in boiling water. The fluid part of the beverage 

 has, like coffee and!tea, an exhilarating effect on the con- 

 stitution, while the fixed parts, consisting as it does of 

 carbon and azote, constitutes a most nutritions food. 



The cocoa-beans contain a fat known by the name of 

 cocoa-butter, cocoa-oil, coroa-f.rf. and Butyrum Cocoa. This 

 fat is slightly coloured, rather yellowish, and has entirely 

 the taste of the beans. It has the consistence of tallow 

 and the following components: — 



Carbon 76'6 per cent. 



Hydrogen 11"9 „ 



Oxygen 11.5 



lOO'O per cent. 



Its specific gravity is at 15" Celsius 0'91. It is not apt 

 to turn rancid, and therefore, it is of great value in medical 

 appliances, where rancidness is to be avoided. 



In making milk or water-chocolate this fat often floats 

 at top; this occurs especially when warming up milk-chocolate; 

 its presence slightly indisposes persons of weak stomachs. 

 In good factories this grease is expressed and utilized in 

 another way. 



We conclude this part with a quotation from Mr. Van 

 Gorkom's above-mentioned work p. 477 : — 



"Of course the Cocoa is an important subject in the 

 first account of Oortez to Charles V, and it was sent to 

 Spain as early as 1520 in the form of small cakes, where 

 it met with such ready and extraordinary demand, that, 

 for a long time, its origin was kept secret in order to 

 secure the monopoly of the i 



"Cocoa, however, like cotfeeand tea. did not acquire its 

 undisputed popularity without previous warm animadversions 

 from partizans and opponents. Linnaeus, to whom the tree 

 owes its appellation of Theobroma, i.e.- food fo\ gods, was 

 evidently much delighted with it; whereas Benzoni and 

 Clusius stigmatized chocolate as not much better than food 

 for swine. 



" With the more general spread of sugar cocoa came to 



be more appreciated. Bontekoe's pamphlet: "hei • 



The, G "i mtributed not a little to this, lis 



Centra) and Northern Europe dates only from L600, 



when the It fcti returning from America, brought 



