46 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 
it is not worth while to reproduce here, as the methods have essentially 
changed since that time), he goes on to demonstrate, as the result of 
actual experiment, that chocolate is a substance ‘‘ very temperate, very 
nourishing, and of easy digestion ; very proper to repair the exhausted 
spirits and decayed strength; and very suitable to preserve the health 
and prolong the lives of old men... . 
‘“There lately died at Martinico a counselor, about a hundred years 
old, who for thirty years past lived on nothing but chocolate and bis- 
cuit. He sometimes, indeed, had a little soup at dinner, but never 
any fish, flesh, or other victuals. He was, nevertheless, so vigorous 
and nimble that at fourscore and five he could get on horseback with- 
out stirrups. 
‘* Chocolate is not only proper to prolong the life of aged people, but 
also of those whose constitution is lean and dry, or weak and caco- 
chymical, or who use violent exercises, or whose employments oblige 
them to an intense application of mind, which makes them very faint- 
ish. To all these it agrees perfectly well, and becomes to them an 
altering diet.” 
Dr. Nansen, the famous Arctic explorer, in his book entitled ‘‘ The 
First Crossing of Greenland’? (Vol. I., p. 58), speaks of chocolate as 
an important part of the equipment for such an undertaking. ‘‘ We 
generally,’ he says, ‘‘used chocolate in the morning.’’ Referring to 
tea, coffee, and alcoholic drinks, he says: ‘‘ Stimulants of this kind, 
with the exception of chocolate, which is mild in its effect and at the 
same time nourishing, bring practically no nutritive substance into the 
body, and the energy which one obtains in anticipation by their use 
at one moment must be paid for by a corresponding exhaustion at the 
next.”’ 
With reference to statements discounting the value of chocolate 
as a food, the London Lancet says: ‘‘ Practical experience, of course, 
long ago decided in favor of the view that chocolate is a good sustain- 
ing food. In addition, chocolate is mildly stimulating and exhila- 
