CHOCOLATE AND BREAKFAST COCOA. 27 



followed by a thorough winnowing, by which the lighter shells 

 are carried away by themselves, leaving the clean fragments of 

 the roasted seeds ready for further manipulation. 



Among the fragments can be detected minute and very tough 

 bits of tissue. These bits are the hardened germs, or rather 

 portions of the germs, and these are separated from the rest by an 

 apparatus of much simplicity and efficiency. 



The clean shells are usually placed at once in packages for 

 transportation. They are extensively used for the domestic prep- 

 aration of a wholesome and very low-priced drink. This beverage 

 contains a fair proportion of the active principle of the chocolate- 

 seeds themselves, and the flavor is suggestive of chocolate. 



The cleaned fragments constitute the so-called " cocoa-nibs " 

 of some foreign markets, and in this state they are used for the 

 preparation of a simple decoction. But in this form they require 

 to be boiled a good while for the development of flavor, and it is 

 therefore better to have them treated beforehand in order to 

 reduce the time of boiling; and this is all the more necessary, 

 since during the long boiling a part of the more delicate aroma 

 peculiar to chocolate-seeds is apt to be dissipated. 



We are next to trace these fragments, through the chocolate- 

 mill, and afterwards follow similar fragments through the cocoa- 

 factory. 



In the preparation of chocolate, the fragments are ground by 

 a complicated mechanism until they attain the greatest degree of 

 fineness, and constitute a perfectly homogeneous mass or paste. 

 If the chocolate is to be a plain chocolate, it is to receive its 

 delicate flavoring and then go directly into the moulds for shaping 

 it. Every step of the process has to be watched with the most 

 assiduous care. When the chocolate is formed and properly 

 cooled, it is wrapped and packed for the market. 



