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the Cacao Plant. 271 
from the cylinders they are allowed to cool, and are then passed 
through mills in order to break them up; they are then allowed 
to fall in front of a strong fan, which blows away the light shell, 
leaving the nib. The nibs are then passed through revolving 
stone mills, slightly warmed ; the result is a rich brown liquid 
of about the consistence of golden syrup. This liquid cocoa is 
now ready for any special variety of cocoa that the manufacturer 
may wish to make. For chocolate this liquid is mixed with pure 
loaf sugar only, but, if required, is favoured with vanilla or any 
flavouring substance desired. 
For prepared or soluble cocoas, the cocoa butter or natural oil 
is allowed to remain, and this liquid cocoa is mixed with loaf 
sugar and West Indian arrowroot ; the sugar and arrowroot, if 
mixed in the proper proportions, thoroughly incorporates the oil, 
which is one of the most nutritious parts of the cacao bean, and 
makes a delightful drink. Again, the liquid cocoa may be put 
into bags and then placed in hydraulic presses, by which the 
cocoa butter or oil is extracted; the remaining portion forming 
a fine dry powder, which is sold as pure cocoa under the name 
of essences, extracts, &c., but very erroneously so, as it can 
hardly be considered pure when all the nourishment of the bean 
has been extracted. Cocoa, before the extraction of the oil, may 
be compared to new milk; but cocoa after the extraction of the 
oil is like milk after the removal of the cream. 
Some persons prefer cocoa nibs; the great drawback to this 
form of cocoa is the trouble and time required in making a 
beverage from them; they having to be boiled for several hours, 
and on cooling the oil solidifies, and by some persons is removed. 
In Ireland a favourite beverage is the cocoa shells only; these 
are put into a teapot, and infused in the same way as tea. This 
beverage is not very palatable, I may say. 
Cocoa, in the form of nibs, contains in every hundred parts— 
50 parts Cacao butter. 
20 ,, Albumenoids. 
18 ,, Starch, sugar, &c. 
4 ,, Salts. 
2 ,, Theobromine. 
11 ,, Other substances. 
The cocoa butter, which forms about half the substance of the 
nib, is a hard fatty material, which when clarified is of a dead 
_ white colour. Its melting point is low, about 100° F. A peculi- 
_ arity about this fat is that it never becomes rancid; this makes 
it most valuable, and places it first on the list of the fatty class 
of our carbonaceous or heat-giving foods. The albumenoids 
_ constitute about twenty per cent. of the nib; these are classed 
_ among the nitrogenous principles of food, and their presence 
renders cocoa one of the richest flesh-formers we have. The 
