THE 



313 



T II 



which is cultivated like the T. Cacao. The 

 cocoa of Guiana is yielded by the T. Guianensis. ( Aublet.) 



The fruits are collected both from wild and cultivated 

 plants ; from the latter two harvests are obtained, from 

 the former one only. The cultivation is easy and unex- 

 pensive. The tree begins to bear about the age of seven or 

 eight years, and one slave can superintend a thousand 

 plants, the produce of which however is not more than from 

 1500 to 1000 Ibs. of seeds. The statement of Labat is 

 an exaggeration that a tree in full vigour will produce 

 150 Ibslof seeds. Notwithstanding the small return from 

 each tree, it is a very lucrative branch of culture. The 

 produce is always greatest after the greatest floodings of 

 the rivers. The seeds from the wild plants are termed by 

 the native Brazilians cacao bravo or cacao do Mato. 



The fruits of the ditf'erent species vary in size, form, and 

 the number of the seeds they contain. The seeds, which 

 are the only part employed, vary in size and quality ac- 

 cording to the species from which they are obtained. The 

 general number is from twenty-five to thirty in each fruit, 

 In-ill'.: mo iv abundant, as well as of better quality, in the 

 cultivated than in the wild plants. They vary much in 

 bitterness and in the quantity of oil they yield, not only 

 according to the spet-ies from which they are obtained, 

 but the manner in which they are treated after being 

 gathered and taken out of the pulpy fruit. In some in- 

 s they are buried in the earth in heaps, and allowed 

 to ferment for thirty or forty days ; a process which greatly 

 improves them, and destroys the germinating power of the 

 seed. The different kinds met with in commerce derive 

 their names either from the place where they grew or from 

 some corruption of the native designation. The average 

 si/e of good beans is that of a sweet almond, but some- 

 what thicker. The most esteemed of the known sorts is 

 that termed Surotmzco, or Mexican, with very small beans, 

 with a remarkably fine flavour, and scarcely any acrid 

 taste. 'J 1u M- beans are always buried. This sort never 

 - to Europe. The next most valuable comes from 

 K.Miirialda.-.. and h;;> a MTV agreeable flavour: the choco- 

 late prepared from it has a golden colour ; it is seldom met 

 with out of Mexico. The Guatemala cocoa consists of 

 I:UL/'- beans, very convex, often angular, and very 

 much pointed at the one end. They contain much oil, 

 and are mild, with a pleasant flavour. The beans from 

 Guayaquil, which aie three times as large as those of So- 

 conuzeo, are less prized than those of Guatemala. 



The Caracas or .New Granada cocoa, which is among the 

 more highly prized kinds that reach Europe, is obtained 

 from the 'i'heobroma bicolor (Humboldt, }'l. Aequin., 

 \. 3Oj, called by the natives Bacao, and cultivated at Car- 

 thago. The beans are of medium size, and very oily. But 

 chocolate made of these alone is not very agreeable, and 

 another kind is commonly mixed with them, which are 

 much smaller and harder. Berbice cocoa beans are not 

 unfrequently mingled with those of Granada. These arc 

 also smaller and thinner, but in other respects difficult to 

 dUtinguUli : the shell separates very easily from the kernel, 

 which is reddish-brown, and has a strong smell, but a 

 pleasant flavour. 



The Surinam and Essequibo cocoas are not unlike that 

 from New Granada, but are harder, thicker, and not so 

 sweet. 



All :he foregoing are earth-dried : the following are 

 called sun-dried, being merely collected in heaps, and 

 often turned over in the sun ; they are consequently much 

 cheaper. 



Brazilian, called also of Para, and of Maranham, is very 

 extensively employed: the beans are small, smooth, long, 

 somewhat flattened, externally reddish-brown, with a bitter 

 astringent taste : it is only worth half the amount of the 

 former. The West Indian, called Cocoa des lies or des 

 Antilles, is still k-ss valuable, and is employed to form the 

 low-priced cocoas and chocolates. 



Lampadius has analyzed the West Indian kernels, and 

 4 tin-in to consist of, in the 100 parts, besides water, 

 fXJ-1 of fat or oil, 16'7 of an albuminous brown matter, 

 which contains all the aroma of the bean, 10-91 of starch, 

 75 of gum or mucilage, 0-9 of lignine, and 2 01 of a 

 red' 1 ill', somewhat akin to the pigment of cochi- 



neal. These proportions vary very much in the ditf'erent 

 sorts, the West, Indian kinds containing far more of the 

 oil or butter of cocoa than the kind from New Granada. 

 It is therefore mo.-it advantageous to employ the latter to 

 P. C., No. 1527, 



form cocoa or chocolate for nutriment, and the other to 

 yield this solid oil, to form candles, soap, or pomades. 

 This oil contains a large proportion of stearinc, and is 

 therefore solid at the ordinary temperature of the air, but 

 it melts at 122 Fahr. When purified by long boiling in 

 water, it is perfectly white, and does not readily become 

 rancid. It is perfectly soluble in aether, a means of detect- 

 ing adulterations with beef-fat, suet, marrow, or almond 

 oil, wax, &c. It is however less employed in this country 

 than in France. Nevertheless it is a most valuable ma- 

 terial, and a soap made with it and soda, which is prefer- 

 able to potass, forms an article for the toilet of great ser- 

 vice to those who are troubled with a rough harsh skin or 

 chapped hands. The soap sold in this country under the 

 name of cocoa-nut oil must not be confounded with that 

 }ust spoken of, as this is obtained from the Cocos nucifera. 

 The cocoa-nut-oil candles are likewise prepared from the 

 latter. 



The kernels of the Theobroma are used as an article of 

 nutriment either in the natural state as they are received 

 from America or prepared in various ways. The simplest 

 and best form is that of the seeds roughly crushed, termed 

 cocoa-nibs, which however require two hours boiling, as, 

 owing to the peculiar nature of the endosperm, or inner 

 seed-coat, which passes down into the substance of the co- 

 tyledons, the prolonged application of heat and moisture 

 is necessary to dissolve the contents. Flake cocoa is 

 merely the seeds crushed between rollers. When choco- 

 late is to be made, the beans, after being carefully picked 

 so as to free them from mouldy or worm-eaten ones, are 

 to be gently roasted over a fire in an iron-cylinder, with 

 holes in the ends to allow the vapour to escape. When 

 the aroma begins to be well developed, the process is con- 

 sidered complete. The beans are then turned out, cooled, 

 and freed by fanning and sifting from their husks. The 

 husks, which often amount to 20 or 25 per cent, of the 

 beans employed, should not be thrown away, as they con- 

 tain half their weight of soluble matter of a mucilaginous 

 nature, which furnishes a tolerable nutriment for the poor. 

 The seeds are then to be converted into a paste, either by 

 trituration in a mortar heated to 130 Fahr., or now almost 

 universally by a machine impelled by steam. (See Ure's 

 Dictionary (<f Arts, &c., p. 293.) The paste is then put 

 into moulds and sent into the market. It always im- 

 proves by keeping. The colour is said to be owing to the 

 addition of arnotto, but this is probably a mistake, for if 

 the South American contain as much colouring-matter a* 

 the West Indian, any extraneous pigment is unnecessary. 

 When the kernels alone are used, or only a little sugar 

 added, the chocolate is termed ' Chocolat de sante.' But 

 vanilla, cloves, cinnamon, and other aromatics are frequently 

 added; as are also rice, almonds, starch, &c. Simple cho- 

 colate is mostly preferred in Britain, the perfumed sorts in 

 France, Italy, and Spain, in which countries the consump 

 lion is immense. For invalids the plain chocolate is best, 

 the perfumed being too heating. Where tea and coffee 

 disagree, cocoa or chocolate is the best substitute. It is 

 complained that it proves heavy and disturbs the stomach, 

 and not unfrequently causes headaches. In almost all in- 

 stances this arises from making the beverage too strong. 

 The printed directions order far too much of the substance 

 to be employed. Half the quantity is sufficient. The 

 Spaniards do not reckon chocolate very nutritious, and 

 even permit the priests, who should fast for many hours 

 before saying mass, to drink it. But this is a very con- 

 venient mistake. Schroder, who analyzed cocoa, regarded 

 the bitter principle as similar to cuffi-m. The analysis of 

 Theobromine by Woskresensky shows how nearly he was 

 correct, and ajso that this article, being one of the most 

 highly azotised vegetable compounds, must be highly nu- 

 tritious. Liebig considers that this principle contributes 

 to the formation of bile, like thein. [THEA ; THEIN.] 



THEOCRACY (Seoicparm, a government by God) is a 

 term applied to the constitution of the Israelitish govern- 

 ment, as established by Moses, on account of its being 

 under the direct control of God. Michaelis enumerates 

 the following particulars as those in which the theocratic 

 form of government is most remarkable : 1. The laws of 

 the Israelites were given by God. 2. The judges arc re- 

 presented as holy persons, and as sitting in the place 

 of God. 3. The judges were usually taken from the tribe 

 of Levi, and the chief expounder of the law was tin; 

 high-priest. 4. In difficult cases of law, relating both to 



Vol. XX.IV.-2 S 



