94 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



St. Michael's. After describitifr the methods of 

 preparini the ash, and the routine of analysis, the 

 authors sum up with the following results : 



These results eonfirin the observations of Saus- 

 sure. that tlie Itrue t amount of mineral consti- 

 tuents is deposited in those p-irts of the plant in 

 which the proc3ss of assimilation appears to be 

 most active. In the ashes of the root, tiie stem, 

 and the leaves, the joint amount of the lime and 

 magnesia exceeds the rest of the mineral consti- 

 tuents. In the fruit and seed, the alkalies are pre- 

 valent. Am I correct in believing that such analy- 

 ses show the gardener the proper compost to use ? 

 — Citron. 



(Test the value of this analysis by the applica- 

 tion of phosphates, e. g- cow-dung, or superphos- 

 phate of lime.) Gard. Cliron. 



The Chocolate Tree and its Uses. — What 

 is generally called Cocoa, is merely the berries o*" 

 Theobi-oma Cacao, pounded and drank either -with I article of diet, as it may be literally termed meat 



yellow, smooth, clear and thin. When arrived at 

 Its full growth, and before it is rip?, it is gathered 

 and eaten like any other fruit, the taste beintr sub- 

 acid. Chocolate, so called, and so prized both in 

 the Spanish Continent and in the West Indies, never 

 readies Great Britain except as a contraband arti- 

 cle, being, like nearly all colonial manufactured 

 articles, prohibited by the Custom-lionse laws. 

 What is generally drank under that name, is sim- 

 ply the Cocoa boiled in milk, gruel or even water, 

 and is as much like the Spanish or West India Cho- 

 colate, as vinegar is to Burgundy. It is, without 

 any exception, of all domestic drinks, the most ali- 

 mentary ; and the Spaniards esteem it so necessary 

 to the health and support of the body, that it is con- 

 sidered the severest punishment to withhold it, 

 even froin criminals ; nay, to be unable to procure 

 Chocolate, is deemed the greatest misfortune in 

 life ! Yet notwithstanding this estimation in which 

 it is held, the quantity made in the neighborhood of 

 Carthagena is insufficient for the demands (f the 

 populatit n, and is so hi2;hlv priced, that none is ex- 

 ported but as presents! The signs by which good 

 Chocolate or Cocoa is known arc these : — It should 

 dissolve entirely in water, and be without sediment; 

 it should be oily and yet melt in the mouth ; and if 

 genuine and carefully prepared, should deposit no 

 grits or grounds. That made in the West Indies, 

 and in some parts of Cuba, is dark ; but that manu- 

 factured in Jamaica is of a bright brick color, ow- 

 ing to the greater quantity of arnatto which is used 

 in the preparation, and which, I think, gives it a 

 richer and more agreeable flavor. In an economi- 

 cal point of view, Chocolate is a ver}"- important 



water or milk, or with both. Chocolate is a com- 

 pound drink, and is manufactured chiefly from the 

 kernels of this plant, whose natural habitat would 

 seem to be Guayquil, in South America, though it 

 flourishes in great perfection in the West Indies. 

 It grows also sponta leously and luxuriantly on the 

 banks of the Magdalena. Mr. Scomhurgk, in his 

 recent expedition into the interior of British Guia- 

 na, found the country abounding in Cocoa, "which 

 the Indians were most anxious to secure, as the 

 pulpy arillus surrounding the seed has an agreeable 

 vinous taste. Singular to say, however, they ap- 

 peared perfectly ignorant of the qualities of the 

 seed, which possesses the most delightful aroma. 

 Mr. Scomhurgk states, that they evinced the great- 

 est astonishment when they beheld him and Mr. 

 Goodall collecting these seeds and using them as 

 Chocolate, which was the most delicious they had 

 ever tasted." The heio-ht of the Cocoa shrub is 

 from eighteen to twenty feet ; the leaf is between 

 four and six inches long, and its breadth three or 

 four, very smooth, and terminating in a point like 

 that of the Orange tree, but differing from it in co- 

 lour ; of a dull green, without gloss, and not so 

 thickly set upon the branches. The blossom is 

 first white, then reddish, and contains the rudiments 

 of the kernels or berries. When fully developed, 

 the pericarp or seed vessel is a pod which grows 

 not only from the branches, but the stem of the 

 tree, and is from six to seven inches in length, and 

 shaped like a cucumber. Its colour is green when 

 growing, like that of the leaf; but when ripe, is 



and drink ; and were our half starved artizans, 

 over-wrought factory children, and rickety milline- 

 ry girls, induced to drink it, instead of the innutri- 

 tions and unwholesome beveras-e called Tea, its 

 nutritive qualities would soon develop themselves 

 in tiieir iinproved looks and more robust constitu- 

 tion. The price, too, is in its favor. Cocoa being 

 tenpence per pound ; while the cheapest black tea, 

 such as even the Chinese bengar would despise, 

 drank by milliners, washerwomen, and the poorer 

 class in the Metropolis', is four shillings a pound, or 

 310 per cent dearer, while it is deeidedly injurious 

 to health. The headsof the naval and military me- 

 dical departments in England have been so impress- 

 ed with the wholesomeness and superior nutriment 

 of Cocoa, that they have judiciously directed that 

 it shall be served out twice or thrice a week to re- 

 giments of the line, and to the seamen on board of 

 her Miijesty's ships, and this wise regulation has 

 evinced its salutary efl^ects in the improved health 

 and condition of the men. Indeed this has been 

 most satisfactorily established in Jamaica among 

 the troops ; and a remarkable fact corroborating 

 this statement is, that by returns to the Horse- 

 Guards, it is shown that only one death took place 

 at Newcastle Barracks, in that island, out of a 

 force of seven himdred men, for the quarter ending 

 ." eptember 30, 1^42 ; and that the same may be 

 asserted for other regiments in the West Indies, 

 and of the seamen in her Majesty's ships on the 

 coast. 

 But the excellent qualities of Chocolate were 



