MALVACEJ3. 115 



in diarrhoea, dysentery, quinsy, &c. It is the seed of S. scaphgera> 

 That of S. alata? another Indian species, has similar properties. 

 But the most remarkable of this group are those commonly known 

 by the names of Cola Nut {Noix de C.) and the Cocoa {Cacao). The 

 true Cola 3 is the seed of a Sterculia, C. acuminata? often reduced 

 to a large embryo more or less globose and fleshy, with three or 

 four thick cotyledons, sometimes sold at a high price upon the 

 western coast of tropical Africa. It is a masticatory, seeming to 

 have properties similar to those commonly attributed to Mate, 

 Coca, &c, and its flavour is at first sharp, but food, drinks, and 

 even brackish or foul water, we are assured, seem to have an agree- 

 able taste after eating the Cola Nut. 



The ordinary Cocoa is the seed of Theobroma Cacao L. 5 (figs. 

 124-129). The pericarp 6 is cut in two and set apart under the 

 name of cabosse. From it the seeds are taken, surrounded by 

 their fleshy pulp, which is fermented either by burying them in 

 the earth 7 or brewing them in wooden troughs. From the liquefied 

 pulp the seeds are afterwards taken and dried upon mats : the covering 

 of the seeds becomes coloured in the process of fermentation. The 

 seeds contain a tannic principle, a colouring matter, an azotic 

 crystallizable substance, theobromine, 8 and about half their weight 

 of a solidifiable oil (Cocoa butter), which is separated by boiling in 

 water, and variously employed as food, as an external or internal 

 medicament, as a cosmetic, and even in the manufacture of soap and 



to the oblique hilum, 3 centim. or inore in length, Mat. Med., vi. 719. — A. Rich., Flem., ed. 4, 



brownish, wrinkled, and when in contact with ii. 252. — Linll., Fl. Med., 138. — Peeeiea, 



water developing an enormous quantity of mu- JElem. Mat. Med., ed. 5, ii. p. ii. 553. — Moq., 



cilage, rich in bassorine, and containing also a Bot. Med., 281, 405, fig. 88. — Nees, PI. Med., 



greenish oil. (Gu IB., op. cit., iii. 645.) t. 419. — Gtjib., Drog. Simpl., ed. 6, iii. 647, 



1 Scaphium scaphigerum Schott & Endl., fig. 745. — Mitscheel., d. Cacao. Berl. (1859). 

 Melet., 33. — Beeg. & Schm., Off Geio., iv. t. 33, e, f.— 



2 Roxb., PI. Coromand., iii. t. 287. — Ptery- H. Bn., in Diet. Fncycl. des Sc. Med., xi. 364. 

 gota Roxburghii Sciiott & Endl., Melet., 32. 6 In this species it is yellow or red according 

 — Rosenth., op. cit., 724 (vulg. Toola). Its to the varieties ; elongated, attenuated into a 

 seeds are said to be narcotic, and are used in blunt point at the two extremities with five 

 India in the same way as opium. blunt angles, and ten longitudinal ribs, but little 



3 Or Gourou, Ngourou, Cafe du Soudan. prominent in the fresh state. In their intervals 



4 R. Be., in Benn. PI. Jav. Bar., 237. — are more or less wrinkled bands obtusely 

 Mast., in Olio. Fl. Prop. Afr., i. 221. — H. Bn., tuberous. 



in Adansonia, x. 169. — Sterculia acuminata ' Whence the name of C. terres, which is 



Pal. Beauv., Fl. Ow. et Ben., i. 41, t. 24. — applied to the hinds called C. de la Trinite (from 



S. nitida Vent., Malmais., ii. 91. — S. verticil- the coast of Caracas). In this case the seminal 



lata Schum. & ThoNN., Beslcr., 240. — Sipho- coats separate much more easily from the embryo. 

 niopsis monoica Kaest., PI. Columb., 139, t. 69. 8 Bitter, little soluble, unchanged by the air, 



5 



See p. 82, note 6.— M£b. & Del., Bid. volatile above 250° (C 14 H 8 Az 4 4 ). 



1 *i 



