32 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 
physics were as subtle as his morality was accommodating, declared, 
formally, that a fast was not broken by chocolate prepared with 
water; thus wire-drawing, in favor of his penitents, the ancient 
adage, ‘ Liguidum non frangit jejunium.”? 
Chocolate appears to have been highly valued as a remedial agent 
by the leading physicians of that day. Christoph Ludwig Hoffmann 
wrote a treatise entitled ‘‘ Potus Chocolate,’’ in which he recom- 
mended it in many diseases, and instanced the case of Cardinal 
Richelieu, who, he stated, was cured of general atrophy by its 
use. 
The earliest intimation of the introduction of cocoa into England is 
found in an announcement in the Public Advertiser of Tuesday, June 
16, 1657 (more than a hundred and thirty years after its introduction 
into Spain), stating that ‘‘In Bishopsgate Street, in Queen’s Head 
Alley, at a Frenchman’s house, is an excellent West India drink, 
called chocolate, to be sold, where you may have it ready at any 
time ; and also unmade, at reasonable rates.’’ 
Two years later, in the Mercurius Politicus for June, 1659, it is 
stated that ‘‘ Chocolate, an excellent West India drink, is sold in 
Queen’s Head Alley, in Bishopsgate Street, by a Frenchman who 
did formerly sell it in Grace Church Street and Clement’s Church- 
yard, being the first man who did sell it in England ; and its virtues 
are highly extolled.” 
A book written in the time of Charles II., entitled ‘‘ The Indian 
Nectar, or a Discourse Concerning Chocolate, etc.,’’ says the best 
kind can be purchased of one Mortimer, ‘‘ an honest though poor 
man, living in East Smithfield,’ for 6s. 8d. per pound, and com- 
moner sorts for about half that price. 
About the beginning of the eighteenth century chocolate had be- 
come an exceedingly fashionable beverage, and the cocoa tree was a 
favorite sign and name for places of public refreshment. Cocoa and 
chocolate are frequently mentioned in contemporary literature ; and 
