A SKETCH OF THEIR HISTORY 15 



roasted, which causes a loss by volatilisation of 7 per 

 cent. ; and shelled, the husks being about 12 per cent. 

 Therefore, the actual yield of usable nib, which has 

 to bear the whole duty, is about 80 per cent. It may be 

 well to add that the yield of cocoa powder is 48 per 

 cent, of the raw beans, or roughly, one pound of the 

 raw product yields half a pound of the finished article. 



Introduction of Cocoa Powder. 



The drink " cocoa " as we know it to-day was not 

 introduced until 1828. Before this time the ground 

 bean, mixed with sugar, was sold in cakes. The bever- 

 age prepared from these chocolate cakes was very rich 

 in butter, and whilst the British Navy has always con- 

 sumed it in this condition (the sailors generally re- 

 move with a spoon the excess of butter which floats to 

 the top) it is a little heavy for less hardy digestions. 

 Van Houten (of the well-known Dutch house of that 

 name) in 1828 invented a method of pressing out part 

 of the butter, and thus obtained a lighter, more appetis- 

 ing, and more easily assimilated preparation. As the 

 butter is useful in chocolate manufacture, this process 

 enabled the manufacturer to produce a less costly 

 cocoa powder, and thus the circle of consumers was 

 widened. Messrs. Cadbury Bros., of Birmingham, first 

 sold their " cocoa essence " in 1866, and Messrs. Fry 

 and Sons, of Bristol, introduced a pure cocoa by press- 

 ing out part of the butter in 1868. 



Growing Popularity of Cacao Preparations. 



The incidence of import duties did not prevent the 

 continuous increase in the amount of cacao consumed 

 in the British Isles. When Queen Victoria came to the 

 throne the cacao cleared for home consumption was 

 about four or five thousand tons, more than half of 

 which was consumed by the Navy. At the time of 

 Queen Victoria's death it had increased to four times 

 this amount, and by 191 5 it had reached nearly fifty 



