174 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 



the drink prepared from it can only be regarded as an 

 accessory food, because it is usual to take the powder 

 in small quantities just as with beef- tea it is usual to 

 take only a small portion of an ox in a tea-cup but 

 chocolate is often eaten in considerable quantities at a 

 time, and must therefore be regarded as an important 

 foodstuff, and not considered, as it frequently is con- 

 sidered, simply as a luxury. 



The eating of cacao mixed with sugar dates from 

 very early days, but it is only in recent times that it has 

 become the principal sweetmeat. What would a " sweet- 

 shop " be to-day without chocolate, that summit of 

 the confectioner's art, when the rich brown of chocolate 

 is the predominant note in every confectioner's 

 window ? What would the lovers in England do 

 without chocolates, which enable them to indulge 

 their delight in giving that which is sure to be well 

 received ? 



As a luxury it is universally appreciated, and be- 

 cause of this appreciation its value as a food is some- 

 times overlooked. 



During the war chocolate was valued as a compact 

 foodstuff, which is easily preserved. Dr. Gastineau 

 Earle, lecturing for the Institute of Hygiene in 1915 

 on " Food Factor in War," said : " Chocolate is a 

 most valuable concentrated food, especially when 

 other foods are not available ; it is the chief constitu- 

 ent of the emergency ration." Its importance as a con- 

 centrated foodstuff was appreciated in the United 

 States, for every " comfort kit " made up for the 

 American soldiers fighting in the war contained a cake 

 of sweet chocolate. 



There are a number of records of people whose lives 

 have been preserved by means of chocolate. One of 

 the most recent was the case of Commander Stewart, 

 who was torpedoed in H.M.S. " Cornwallis " in the 

 Mediterranean in 1917. He happened to have in his 

 cabin one of the boxes of chocolate presented to the 

 Army and Navy in 1915 by the colonies of Trinidad, 



