ORDER BROMACE^E, OR CACAO TRIBE. 391 



dried. Chocolate differs from cacao, simply in the addition of 



various spices and flavouring ingredients. It is much more 



employed in France than in England, and 



is commonly drunk for breakfast in Spain. 



In Mexico it is considered an article of prime 



necessity ; and it was extensively cultivated 



there, at the time of the Spanish invasion of 



South America. Humboldt, the celebrated 



traveller, remarks, that it is by chocolate 



and maize-flour, that man has been enabled 



to penetrate the vast uninhabited forests 



of central America, and to gain access to the 



stupendous table lands of the Andes. The 



seeds were employed as coins, in order to 



express values below sixpence, which was FlG - 146 FRUIT OR CAP - 



. . SULK OF CACAO-PLANT, 



that of the smallest metal com, six of them containing the seeds or 

 being about equivalent to a halfpenny ; and 

 this use of them is still partially continued. A kind of buttery 

 substance may be extracted from the seeds of the Cacao, which 

 is said to have a very bland and agreeable flavour, and to serve 

 as an excellent emollient application to the skin ; whence it is 

 highly prized, in some countries, as an ingredient in ointments 

 and cosmetics. It was estimated that, in 1806, about 23 mil- 

 lion pounds of Cacao were imported into Europe from South 

 America, Mexico, and the West Indian islands ; of this quan- 

 tity, the greater part was consumed in Spain. The quantity 

 consumed in Britain in the year 1831 was not more than half a 

 million of pounds, but in that year the duty was lowered from 

 sixpence to twopence a pound ; the consumption immediately 

 doubled, and it is now two millions of pounds annually. A 

 large quantity is employed in the British navy and merchant- 

 service, as a partial or entire substitute for ardent spirits ; and 

 it may be expected that the rapidly-increasing disuse of the 

 latter most injurious liquors, will occasion a still further demand 

 for this wholesome and nutritious article. 



557. The order TILIACE^E, or Linden tribe, is also nearly 

 allied to Malvaceae. The principal part of this order consists of 



