THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 
by intuition — to bring vanilla and chocolate 
together in the same divine compositi 
Much has l>een written or suggested alxxit the true 
food of the gods, and wild guesses i 
Tiade as to the nature 
of nectar and ambrosia. \' ".--.-- 
ities really had very ii' 
What 
was metheglia to rega 
; unny! 
In those old classic tin, 
chocolate. It Ijelonged t. : 
itive set of divinities and henx^- ' 
The chocolate plant belonu'- 
culiacejE, not remote from malli A - 
attribute the pretty hot-house shrub, i 
vanish in 0-. with honey-yellou- flower 
s, the Mahcniia vcr- 
ficiHaUT. As implied alyn'c. it is strict! v American, and 
found only in the tropics. 
There are eight or ten species o 
i Thcobromu, but the 
well-known food plant is T. Ca<:ao. 
It has naught to do 
with Cocos. the cocoa-nut, whicli i> i 
til Coca, 
the familiar anesthetic drug dc - 
xylm. 
It is very unfortunate that the n: 
M> tm- 
like in relationship and propem^- 
The chocolate tree is a sma ' 
.nryfeet 
high, as a n.i!e, with large, oblong. 
taper-pointed leaves. 
There is a pretty contrast in the flowe 
rs. which are borne in 
clusters, between the rose-colored cah 
yx and yellowish cor- 
The c 
■ ptxl. of which < 
portion IS ot economic use as a food or drink, 
chocolate is prepared from the seeds. "When ripe the fruits 
turn yellow outside md tliey are then gathered l)y hand, 
after^vards split open, and the scetls rcmi>ved. These are 
then made to undergo a sligln aniomn of fennentation. or 
sweating, lasting from one to two davs. for the purpose of 
developing their color, and are afterwards exposed to the 
