5s 
Cocoa :  Its  Production  and  Use. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
\    February,  1904. 
diameter.  The  leaves  are  evergreen,  glossy,  thick  and  large.  They 
commonly  reach  a  length  of  8  to  15  inches,  and  often  are  much 
longer.  The  flowers  are  very  small,  and  have  five  yellow  petals  in 
a  pink  calyx,  on  a  stalk  about  an  inch  long.  As  with  many  other 
plants,  there  is  no  relation  between  the  size  of  the  flower  and  the 
size  of  the  fruit.  The  cocoa  flower  is  so  small  as  to  be  insignificant, 
but  the  fruit  which  it  produces  is  5  to  10  inches  long,  4  to  6  inches 
in  diameter,  and  weighs  several  pounds.  The  morning  glory's  flower 
is  many  times  as  large  as  the  cocoa  flower,  but  its  fruit  is  many 
thousand  times  less,  both  in  size  and  weight,  than  the  cocoa  fruit. 
More  striking  instances  of  the  absence  of  anything  like  a  uniform 
ratio  between  size  of  flower  and  size  of  fruit  could  readily  be  cited. 
The  cocoa  flowers  appear  in  clusters  in  the  axils  of  present  or 
former  leaves  on  the  larger  parts  of  the  tree,  including  the  trunk 
almost  to  the  ground.  Consequently  the  fruits  appear  at  the  same 
places,  viz. :  on  the  trunk  and  thicker  branches.  In  this  respect  the 
cocoa  tree  is  one  of  the  exceptions,  as  most  trees  bear  their  fruits  on 
the  smaller  branches.  As  the  cocoa  fruit  weighs  several  pounds,  it 
is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  smaller  branches  would  be  unable 
to  support  the  weight,  and  hence  the  burden  is  relegated  to  the 
trunk  and  stouter  branches.  In  our  own  region,  we  do  not  commonly 
see  fruits  borne  in  this  way,  but  instances  are  not  altogether  wanting. 
The  fruit  of  the  Osage  orange  is  often  borne  on  the  thicker  limbs, 
and  even  on  the  trunk.  In  this  case,  as  in  the  case  of  cocoa,  the 
weight  of  the  fruit  has  probably  been  the  chief  factor  in  determining 
the  points  at  which  it  shall  be  borne.  When  ripe,  the  cocoa  fruit  is 
of  a  golden-yellow  or  yellowish-brown  color.  It  comes  to  maturity 
in  about  four  months  after  blossoming.  In  shape  it  very  much 
resembles  our  spindle-shaped  muskmelon,  except  that  it  is  a  little 
more  pointed  at  the  end.  Running  from  the  stem  end  to  the  bud 
end  of  the  fruit  are  several  depressions,  which  divide  the  surface  of 
the  pod  into  segments,  such  as  we  see  in  the  muskmelon.  The  skin 
is  quite  smooth.  The  fruit  is  often  compared  to  the  cucumber  to 
give  an  idea  of  its  shape  and  general  appearance,  but  the  resemblance 
to  the  muskmelon  is  much  closer.  When  fresh,  the  rind  is  tough 
and  leathery,  easily  indented  with  the  finger  nail  or  cut  with  a  knife. 
In  this  condition  the  fruit  is  solid  and  heavy,  being  filled  with  pulp 
and  seeds.  The  seeds  at  this  time  are  soft — somewhat  firmer  than  a 
ripe  lima  bean.    When  the  fruit  is  dried,  the  pulp  disappears,  the 
