(io3) 



is sparingly used as a coffee substitute. It contains no caffeine, but a 

 narcotic principle that affects the nerves somewhat like caffeine. 



2266. Another sample of the same. Presented by H. H. Rusby. 



2267. Coffee-No. A coffee substitute said to consist of the germ of grain prepared 



and somewhat sweetened. 



Chocolate 



Chocolate is a hardened paste, composed of the ground 

 kernels of the seeds of Theobroma Cacao L. (Sterculiaceae, 

 Chocolate Family), native of tropical America and cul- 

 tivated in all tropical regions. The cacao tree is about as 

 large as an apple tree and of much the same form. Its 

 fruits are of the size of small cantaloupes and of the same 

 general form, though somewhat narrowed at the end. 

 The shell is somewhat hard, like the rind of a squash. 

 It is filled with a soft white pulp, out of which a good jelly 

 is made. The seeds are embedded in this pulp and are 

 about as large as almonds. They are removed and cleaned 

 from the pulp and are then subjected to a sweating process, 

 by various methods. A common method is to bury them 

 in clay for a few days. They are then dried and are 

 ready for the market under the name of cacao, or chocolate 

 beans. In making chocolate, the seeds are roasted like 

 coffee, and are then coarsely broken up. The shells are 

 winnowed out and the broken kernels that remain are 

 known as chocolate nibs. These nibs are then finely 

 ground between millstones. The heat developed by the 

 friction melts the fat of the kernels, so that a thick, 

 molasses-like liquid is formed, which is allowed to drip into 

 molds. On cooling, it hardens into a cake in the form of 

 the mould. This cake then consists of plain or un- 

 sweetened chocolate. By regrinding it with the addition 

 of sugar, sweet chocolate is produced. On pressing choco- 

 late cakes between hot plates, a fat is squeezed out in 

 melted form that is known as cocoa butter, or oleum 

 theobromatis. For making the finest of chocolate, some 

 of this fat is added to ordinary chocolate. The cake that 

 remains after the removal of cocoa butter is ground to 



