184 COCOA. 



the summer."* This vinous liquor appears to enjoy all the exciting 

 properties which are esteemed in the infusion of coffee. 



The coffee-plant continues to produce to the age of forty to forty- 

 five years ; it bears to a co. siderable extent even in the third year. 

 Some siirubs yield from 17 :o 22 lbs. of dry coffee beans ; but thia 

 is a very large quantity. An acre of land in the valley d'Aragua, 

 planted with about 1040 shrubs, will yield about 940 or 950 lbs., 

 which is at the rate of somewhat less than 1 lb. per shrub. 



Coffee contains the same active principle as tea, coffeine, but in 

 less proportion ; the researches of different chemists have also 

 shown the presence of a particular acid called coffeic acid, of fatty 

 matters, a volatile oil, a coloring matter, albumen, tannin, and alka- 

 line and earthy salts. 



Cocoa, {Theobroma cacao.) The ancient Mexicans cultivated the 

 cocoa-tree, and with its seeds prepared tablets similar to the choco- 

 late of modern times. The use of cocoa appears to have been in- 

 troduced after the conquest into the other parts of the continent ; 

 nevertheless, the cocoa-tree is indigenous in the hot and humid 

 forests of South America. M. Goudot discovered several species in 

 New Granada ; among others, that which is known at Muso under 

 the name of the Cacao montaraz : this cocoa-tree, which attains a 

 height of from 25 to 30 feet, yields a considerable quantity of fruit ; 

 the natives prepare a chocolate from its beans, which is extremely 

 bitter, and which they regard as an excellent febrifuge. The wild 

 Indians still appear to be ignorant of the profit that may be made of 

 the seeds of the cocoa-tree ; they only eat the pulp of fruit which 

 surrounds them. Cocoa was introduced into Europe by the Span- 

 iards, and in no long space of time this production of the New 

 World became the object of a very considerable traffic. 



It is a fact well known to the husbandmen of tropical countries, 

 that a virgin soil is quite indispensable to the success of a cocoa 

 plantation ; nothing but failure has followed attempts to replace the 

 sugar-cane, indigo, maize, &c., with cocoa, a plant which to succeed 

 requires a rich, deep, and moist soil, heat and shade ; nothing suits 

 it better than a forest brake, the surface of which is susceptible of 

 irrigation. 



AU the important cocoa plantations which I visited had a common 

 physiognomy : they were all situated in the hottest regions, at a 

 short distance from the sea, near torrents, or on the banks of great 

 rivers. The cocoa husbandry ceases to be profitable in localities 

 which have not a mean temperature of at least 24° C, (75.2° Fahr.,) 

 and I have had occasion to take part in attempts that were as fruit- 

 less as expensive to cultivate the cocoa-tree in a brake where the 

 heat of the climate from my own observations did not exceed 22.8" 

 C. (73° Fahr.) Under the influence of this temperature, the trees 

 presented a very good appearance ; in the course of a few years 

 liiey flowered, but the fruit, which was always small, rarely came to 

 uiaturity. When a piece of land has been selected for a cocoa 



• Mem. of the Academy of Ii-,9;Tiptions, vol. xxiii p. 214. 



