64  Cocoa:  Its  Production  and  Use.        { ^ebvu^i^T' 
from  oil,  the  paste  is  subjected  to  pressure,  and  the  hard  mass  result- 
ing therefrom  is  known  as  rock  cocoa. 
Much  of  the  caked  cocoa  is  ground  to  powder  and  packed  in  tins, 
so  that  when  it  reaches  the  consumer  it  is  in  about  the  same  con- 
dition as  when  it  left  the  factory,  and  no  grating  is  necessary  to 
prepare  it  for  infusing.  The  paste  mentioned  above,  if  it  is  to  be 
made  into  the  confection  chocolate,  is  usually  enriched  by  returning 
some  or  all  of  the  oil,  and  is  flavored  with  cinnamon  or  vanilla,  sweet- 
ened, molded  into  cakes,  cooled  and  wrapped  in  fancy  papers.  The 
gloss  on  the  edges  and  one  flat  side  of  the  cake  is  due  to  the 
contact  of  the  chocolate  with  the  molding  pan,  just  as  a  cake  of  corn- 
mush  is  glossy  wherever  it  has  been  in  contact  with  the  pan.  After 
it  is  molded,  the  chocolate  must  be  kept  cool  in  order  to  retain  its 
firmness  and  the  gloss.  On  this  account,  the  up-to-date  chocolate 
factory  is  supplied  with  a  refrigerating  plant  in  order  that  the  storage- 
rooms  may  be  kept  as  cool  as  desired.  The  depth  of  color  gives 
some  hint  as  to  the  amount  of  oil  the  chocolate  contains.  The  richest 
grades  are  those  used  to  coat  the  very  finest  chocolate  creams,  and 
they  are  often  so  dark  as  to  deserve  to  be  called  black  rather  than 
brown.  A  chocolate  which,  when  held  in  the  hand,  quickly  softens, 
smudging  the  fingers,  contains  much  oil. 
The  cocoa  shells  or  hulls  are  not  thrown  away  nor  burned,  but 
are  sold  to  be  used  for  making  a  beverage  similar  to  cocoa,  but  far 
inferior.    In  Ireland  this  stuff  is  called  "  miserabies." 
The  cocoa  butter,  the  Oleum  theobromatis  of  the  Pharmacopoeia, 
is  a  fixed  oil  which  at  ordinary  temperature  is  solid,  but  which  melts 
at  from  86°  to  920  F.  When  bleached  and  refined  it  loses  its  pale- 
yellow  color  and  becomes  snow  white  and  glistening  like  cold  lard. 
It  is  a  trifle  lighter  than  water,  its  specific  gravity  being  -97  to  -98 
(at  590  F.).  Unlike  a  great  many  oils  it  does  not  become  rancid 
from  long  standing.  Repeated  meltings  and  hardenings  affect  its 
quality  but  little.  On  these  accounts  it  is  especially  valuable  for 
many  purposes.  It  is  very  nutritious  and  its  odor  and  taste  are 
pleasant,  making  it  a  valuable  substitute  for  cod-liver  oil  in  cases 
which  require  that  kind  of  a  tonic  and  yet  in  which  the  palate  and 
weakened  stomach  rebel  against  nauseating  doses.  The  butter  is 
used  to  a  very  great  extent  as  the  chief  material  in  suppositories  and 
in  various  cosmetics  and  pomatums.  For  these  purposes  ■  it  is  ad- 
mirably adapted  because  of  its  soothing  and  healing  qualities,  its 
