70 COCOA : ALL AIJOUT IT. 



are, but, on the contrary, being of an " inquiring mind," is 

 desirous to ascertain, for his own satisfaction and benefit, "What 

 to eat, drink, and avoid." It is well known that adulteration 

 was. in past days, carried on to a very considerable extent, 

 and although very much has been done to mitigate the evil, 

 " the sellinof of an inferior or debased substance under the 

 name of a superior or genuine article" still continues, both as 

 regards food and drink. In a Statute, lo George III., c lo, 

 it is enacted that, "If any article made to resemble cocoa shall be 

 found in the possession of any dealer, under the name of American 

 Cocoa or English Cocoa, or any other name of Cocoa, it shall be 

 forfeited and the dealer shall forfeit ;^ioo." 



So far back as 1640, in " A curious Treatise of the Nature and 

 Quality of Chocolate," by Antonio Colmenero, which was 

 translated from the Spanish into English, there are some 

 remarkable statements as to the value of chocolate, but the writer 

 recognises the mischief that adulteration had already done. He 

 says: "Those who mix Maize in the Chocolate, do very ill; 

 because these grains do beget a very melancholy humour ; and 

 those which mix it in this confection, do it only for their profit ;" 

 but over thirty years later (i67i)Ogelby tells us : "The Spaniards, 

 to make Chocolate, mix Maize either whole or ground." Maize 

 constituted the principal diet of the Indian races of South America, 

 and the interesting engraving, taken from De Dry's History, 

 intimates that they flourished upon it. 



The Analytical Sanitary Commission, published in the Lancet 

 in 1 85 1, reports upon samples of 68 different kinds of Cocoa, 

 bearing a variety of names. Although 56 of the samples were called 



