18 COCOA AND CHOCOLATE 
by the rough handling and by the attrition of the seeds with one 
another during transportation. The kernel consists of two large cotyle- 
dons or seed-leaves, reddish gray or reddish brown, with a shining, 
oily surface, the whole crushing. rather. easily into a loose mass of 
pane ‘GATHERING CocoA PODS ~ -*> 
fragments. The kernel, when dry, has a minute, tough, almost stony 
radicle, which separates easily from the cotyledons: . Microscopic 
examination shows that the cells of the seed-leaves contain albumen, 
oily matters,— sometimes in a crystalline condition,— crystals of an 
entirely different shape, starch, coloring substances in. special recep- 
