1883.] 



MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 



233 



chocolates, etc., the beans are first 

 roasted in metallic cylinders revolving 

 over a fire. They are then broken 

 up, the outer covering being thus de- 

 tached, and separated from the inner 

 portion by a current of air from a 

 blower, forming the cocoa-shells of 

 commerce. The broken, roasted 

 beans from which the shells have 

 been separated constitute the cocoa 

 nibs. From the cocoa nibs all the 

 preparations of chocolate and cocoa 

 are made. The nibs are first ground 

 between heated granite rollers where- 

 by the hard parts are disintegrated 

 and the fat is melted, forming a thin 

 pasty mass which flows in a dark- 

 colored, continuous stream into a 

 receptacle where it solidifies on cool- 

 ing. To make cocoa out of this 

 material the greater part of the fatty 

 matter is removed by pressure, and 

 the finely powdered residue is pure 

 cocoa. 



Many cocoas found in the market 

 contain more or less starch, which is 

 added, it is asserted, to make them 

 more soluble in hot water. Starch is 

 not a necessary ingredient of cocoa. 

 On the contrary, the finest cocoa is 

 made entirely without starch. This 

 is true, for example, of the " Extract 

 of Cocoa " manufactured in England 

 by the Messrs. Cadbury Brothers. 



Chocolate, which contains, or should 

 contain, all of the fatty matter, unless 

 it is distinctly stated on the label that 

 a certain portion has been removed, 

 requires the addition of a certain pro- 

 portion of starch in the process of 

 manufacture. 



A preparation of pure cocoa with 

 starch and sugar is sold by a few 

 manufacturers under the name of 

 chocolate in powder, or chocolate 

 powder. This mixture contains no 

 flavoring extracts, and thereby differs 

 from what is ordinarily known as 

 chocolate. 



The addition of starch, in the prep- 

 aration of chocolate, is not an adulter- 

 ation, since it is necessary. The 

 question to be decided by the micro- 

 scopist in examining chocolate would 



be, whether an unnecessary or ex- 

 cessive quantity of starch is present ; 

 for in such a case the specimen should 

 be condemned as adulterated. 



The purpose of this article is to 

 suggest, for the convenience of micrc- 

 scopists and food-analysts, a distinc- 

 tion between the products of the 

 cocoa-bean, by defining the words 

 cocoa and chocolate. It is not pre- 

 sumed that the trade-names of the 

 different preparations will be changed 

 to conform to any proposed nomen- 

 clature, but since the trade-names 

 convey no definite information of the 

 ccmposition of the articles, a definite 

 nomenclature is necessary for scientific 

 purposes. We would propose the 

 following distinction between cocoa 

 and chocolate : Cocoa is a prepara- 

 tion of the cocoa bean from which the 

 fatty matter has been in great pait 

 extracted, and to which no starch cr 

 flavoring has been added. In other 

 words, it is the pure cocoa without the 

 fat. Chocolate, according to the pro- 

 posed nomenclature, contains all, or a 

 considerable part of, the fatty matter 

 of the bean. 



With this broad distinction there 

 would be few cocoas and many choco- 

 lates found in the market ; and a 

 further subdivision would require to 

 be made among the latter, classing 

 the now so-called cocoas, which have 

 some of the fat removed and only 

 starch added, as plain chocolates, 

 while the richer, flavored chocolates 

 might be designated as flavored 

 chocolates. The advantage of these 

 distinctions would soon become 

 apparent to the food-analyst, and also 

 to the general public, for, although it 

 is impossible to make a perfectly 

 satisfactory distinction such as above 

 suggested, the names would convey 

 certain information as to the nature 

 of the products so designated. At 

 the present time one cannot tell from 

 the names what preparations of cocoa 

 he buys. "Cocoa" means anything 

 that is not chocolate — that is, any 

 preparation made from cocoa- beans 

 that is less rich in fatty matter than 



