COMPOSITION AND FOOD VALUE 169 



these three drinks cocoa alone can be considered as a 

 food, and just as there are people whose digestion is 

 deranged by tea, and some who sleep not a wink after 

 drinking coffee, so there are some who find cocoa too 

 feeding, especially in the summer-time. These sufferers 

 from biliousness will think it curious that cocoa is 

 habitually drunk in many hot climates, thus, in Spanish- 

 speaking countries, it is the custom for the priest, after 

 saying mass, to take a cup of chocolate. The pure cocoa 

 powder is, as we saw above, a very rich foodstuff, but 

 it must always be remembered that in a pint of cocoa 

 only a small quantity, about half an ounce, is usually 

 taken. In this connection the following comparison 

 between tea, coffee and cocoa is not without interest. It is 

 taken from the Farmer's Bulletin 249, an official public- 

 ation of the United States Department of Agriculture : 



Comparison of Energy-giving Power of a Pint of Tea, 

 Coffee and Cocoa. 



These figures place cocoa, as a food, head and shoulders 

 above tea and coffee. The figures are for the beverages 

 made without the addition of milk and sugar, both of 

 which are almost invariably present. A pint of cocoa 

 made with one-third milk, half an ounce of cocoa, and 

 one ounce of sugar would have a fuel value of 320 

 calories, and is therefore equivalent in energv-giving 

 power to a quarter of a pound of beef or four eggs. 

 Cocoa is stimulating, but its action is not so marked 



