OUTLINE OF ITS EARLY HISTORY. 



9 



particularly described in a later chapter, were first roasted and 

 then rudely ground. For this purpose they employed the flat or 

 curved surface of the sort of stone used by them to grind their 

 maize, or Indian corn. In the engraving, one of the most simple 

 mills or flat mortars is seen with its roller. The roller was merely 

 a short thick stone of a cylindrical shape, which could be used with 

 one or both hands somewhat after the manner of the common roll- 

 ing-pin everywhere used in 

 kitchens. By this simple ap- 

 pliance, the crushed seeds 

 were mixed with various in- 

 gredients, among which may 

 be mentioned spices of dif- 

 ferent kinds. A modification 

 of this was later used in 

 Spain. See page 15. 



The drinks made from 

 this coarse chocolate were 

 frequently very complex, but the chocolate itself was the chief 

 constituent. It was the custom to beat the mixture into a froth 

 or foam, by means of stirrers, of mallet-like forms ; in fact, it is 

 said by some writers that the very name chocolate, is derived 

 from a native word indicating the noise made by the stirring of 

 the beverage. 



Thus, Thomas Gage, in his " New Survey of the West Indies," 

 says (under date of 1648), " The name chocolatte is an Indian name, 

 and is compounded from atte, as some say, or as others, atle, which 

 in the Mexican language signifieth water, and from the sound 

 which the water (wherein is put the chocolatte) makes, as choco, 

 choco, choco, when it is stirred in a cup by an instrument called 

 a 'molinet,' or 'molinillo,' until it bubble and rise unto a froath." 



FROM A PHOTOGRAPH OF A STONE MILL, 

 OR FLAT MORTAR. 



