CHOCTAW 



1361 



CHOLERA 



tree bears a cucumber-shaped fruit containing 

 reddish-brown seeds, and within the seeds are 

 the dark-brown kernels from which chocolate 

 is made. An illustration showing manner of 

 growth accompanies the article COCOA. 



The seeds are roasted in large revolving 

 cylinders to make the shells brittle, so they 

 will come off readily. The kernels are then 

 crushed in a grinding mill, the shells and dust 

 being carried off by an air blast, while the 

 smooth paste which flows out of the mill is 

 molded into cakes of the desired size and shape 

 and allowed to harden. If sugar and flavoring 

 substances are worked into the paste, the 

 hardened cakes are called sweet chocolate; the 

 unflavored and unsweetened product is plain, 

 or bitter, chocolate. 



The beverage chocolate made by dissolving 

 chocolate in hot milk is a wholesome, agreeable 

 drink, when used moderately. Unlike tea and 

 coffee, it has valuable food properties in addi- 

 tion to being an excitant of the nervous sys- 

 tem. The uses of chocolate in making con- 

 fectionery, pastry, puddings and ice cream are 

 numerous and well known. It is rich in fat, 

 the proportion being, on an average, 48.7 per 

 cent, and is therefore a nutritious food. It 

 should be used in moderation, however, espe- 

 cially when it is eaten in the form of candy. 

 Physicians say that most American people, 

 young and old, eat far too much chocolate 

 candy, which is injurious to the teeth, the 

 digestion and the nervous system, when used 

 very freely. J.F.S. 



CHOCTAW, chok'taw, one of the most pow- 

 erful of the Indian tribes once living south of 

 the Ohio River. When first known to Euro- 

 peans they occupied the central and southern 

 part of Mississippi and that portion of Ala- 

 bama west of the Tombigbee River. They 

 were farther advanced in agriculture than most 

 other tribes and lived in permanent dwellings. 

 They were a brave people, and most of their 

 wars were in defense of their country against 

 hostile tribes. De Soto entered the territory in 

 1540, captured one of their chiefs and was 

 compelled to resist a fierce attack. They had 

 the custom of flattening the heads of their 

 children by placing bags of sand upon them, 

 and from this custom obtained their name, 

 which means flathead. 



When the French began settlements along 

 the Mississippi, the Choctaws became friendly 

 with them and frequently assisted them in 

 their wars against other tribes. After the 

 French and Indian War they began to remove 

 86 



to lands west of the Mississippi. After the 

 Revolutionary War they formed a treaty with 

 the United States in which undisturbed pos- 

 session of the land was guaranteed them. They 

 aided the United States in the Creek War of 

 1813 and in 1832 sold all their land east of 

 the Mississippi and removed to Indian Terri- 

 tory, where they established the Choctaw Na- 

 tion with an organized government. Like all 

 Southern tribes, they were slave holders and 

 suffered from the War of Secession. Since 

 that event they have continued to advance in 

 wealth and civilization. They are now Amer- 

 ican citizens, well educated and influential in 

 the state of Oklahoma, in which they live. 

 They number about 10,000, but are slowly 

 decreasing. For their customs and habits see 

 INDIANS, AMERICAN. See, also, FIVE CIVIL- 

 IZED TRIBES. 



CHOKE CHERRY. See CHERRY. 



CHOLERA, kol'era, from two Greek words 

 meaning bile and to flow, is the name applied 

 to several forms of disease characterized by 

 disturbances of the intestines. 



Asiatic Cholera, one of the deadliest con- 

 tagious diseases that affect mankind, but less 

 dreaded than formerly, owing to advancement 

 in medicine and sanitary science. It is caused 

 by a specific germ identified by Dr. Robert 

 Koch in 1883. It prevails in the East from 

 Bombay to Southern China, chiefly in British 

 India, and from these localities has spread from 

 time to time by commercial routes on land and 

 sea into other parts of the world, causing an 

 appalling loss of life. Its permanent home is 

 Lower Bengal. It is a disease which thrives 

 on filth, contaminated water being the greatest 

 source of infection. It has therefore been 

 fought with the great modern weapons of 

 sanitary science and through the application 

 of the principles of sanitation has been con- 

 quered in nearly all civilized countries. 



Symptoms and Treatment. Cholera has four 

 stages, the first of which is characterized by 

 slight fever, nausea, vomiting, headache, diar- 

 rhoea and prostration. In the next stage a 

 frothy, watery substance containing bits of 

 mucous membrane of the intestines is excreted. 

 Then follows a period of collapse, and if death 

 does not terminate the course of the disease, 

 it soon subsides (the fourth period) and re- 

 covery is assured. The beginning and end of 

 an attack may take place in less than twelve 

 hours, or it may last ten days. Hot baths and 

 injections of a salt solution into the rectum 

 have been found helpful. Stimulants are some- 



