1 12 CACAO OU COCOA. 



brans, arranged in five regular rows with partitions between, and 

 which are BUrrounded with a rose-colored spongy substance, like 

 that of water melons. Then; are fruits, however, so large as to 

 contain from forty to fifty beans. Those giown in the \\e-t 

 India islands, as well as Berbice and Demerara. are much smaller, 

 and have only from six to fifteen; their development being less 

 perfect than other parts of South America. After the matura- 

 tion of the fruit, when their green colour has changed to a dark 

 yellow, they are plucked, opened, their beans cleared of the 

 marrowy substance, and spread out to dry in the air. In the 

 West Indies they are immediately packed up for the market when 

 they are dried; but in Carai-eas they arc subjected to a species of 

 slight fermentation, by putting them into tubs or ci. ring 



them with boards or stones, and turning them over every morning 

 to equalize the operation. They emit a good deal of moisture, 

 and lose the natural bitterness and acrimony of their taste by 

 this process, as well as some of their weight. Instead of wooden 

 tubs, pits or trenches dug in the ground are sometimes had 

 recourse to for curing the beans; an operation called earthing. 

 They are, lastly, exposed to the sun and dried. According to 

 Lampadius, the kernels of the \\'est India cacao beans, contain 

 in 100 parts, besi . 53.1 of fat or oil, 1G.7 of an albu- 



minous brown matter, which contains all the aroma of the bean ; 

 10.91 of starch, 7? of gum or mucilage, 0.9 of lignine, and 2.01 

 of a reddish dye-.^tufi', somewhat akin to the pigment of coehi- 

 n ul. The husks form 12 per cent, of the weight of the beans. 

 The fatty matter is of the consistence ot tallow, white, of a mild 

 agreeable taste, and not apt to turn rancid by keeping. It melts 

 only at 112 degrees Fahr., and should, therefore, make tolerable 

 candles. It is obtained by exposing the beans to strong pressure 

 in canvas bags, after they have been steamed or soaked in boiling 

 water for some time. From five to six ounces of butter may be 

 thus obtained from a pound of cacao. Jt has a reddish t'i 

 when iirst o.pre.ssed, but it becomes white by boiling with water. 



The beans, being freed from all s| mouldy portions, are 



to be gently i -T a tire in an iron cylinder, with holes in 



its ends for allowing the vapors to escape, the apparatus being 

 similar to a coffee -roaster. 'When the aroma begins to be well 

 developed, the roasting is known to be finished, and the b< 

 must be turned out, cooled, and freed by fanning and sifting from 

 their husks. The kernels are then to be converted into apt 

 either by trituration in a mortar heated to 130 degrees Fahr., or 

 by a powerful mill.* 



The cacao tree resembles our dwarf apple tree both in body 

 and branches, but the leaf, which is of a dark _ consider- 



ably broader and larger. The nuts are of the color and about 

 the size of an almond, and hang eighteen to thirty together by a 

 slender stringy film, enclosed in a pod. A ripe pod is of a beau- 

 tiful yellow, intermixed with crimson streaks ; when dried, it 

 * Ure's Dictionary of Arts and Manufactures. 



