VALUE AS FOOD. 73 



Jean Baptiste Alphonse Chevalier, in 

 his treatise on chocolate, says : 



" Cocoa and chocolate are a complete 

 food ; coffee and tea are not food. Cocoa 

 gives one- third its weight in starch and one- 

 half in cocoa-butter ; and, converted into 

 chocolate by the addition of sugar, it real- 

 izes the idea of a complete aliment, whole- 

 some and eminently hygienic. The shells 

 of the bean contain the same principles as 

 the kernels, and the extract, obtained by 

 an infusion of the shells in sweetened milk, 

 forms a mixture at once agreeable to the 

 taste, and an advantageous substitute for 

 tea and coffee." 



Mme. de Sevigne, in one of her letters to 

 her daughter, says : 



" I took chocolate night before last to 

 digest my dinner, in order to have a good 

 supper. I took some yesterday for nour- 

 ishment, so as to be able to fast until night. 

 What I consider amusing about chocolate 



