CONCRETE OIL OF COCOA. 
17 
having large meshes, then winnowed and passed through a 
mill. The next step is to reduce the whole to a paste by pound- 
ing in a heated iron mortar, to be afterwards placed in a heat- 
ed water bath, with a proportion of water equal to one-tenth 
of the weight of cocoa employed. The heat is continued for a 
few minutes, and the mass then introduced into a ticking bag, 
and submitted to rapid pressure between two plates of tin or 
cast iron, previously heated in boiling water. The oil passes 
through the meshes of the cloth, and is collected in vessels 
kept ready for this purpose. 
By this method a pound of cocoa is made to yield from four 
to six ounces of concrete oil. In this condition, however, it is 
not sufficient]}^ pure, and is required to undergo purification. 
To separate it from extraneous matters, it should be melted 
and transferred to a paper filter, placing the funnel which sup- 
ports it in a stove, or heated water bath. The filtered product 
is then received in bottles, which should be well filled, closed, 
and kept in a cool place. 
As thus prepared, cocoa butter is a soft unctuous solid, of 
white or yellowish-white color, peculiar agreeable odor and a 
bland pleasant taste. As brought to this country, it is often 
exhibited in the form of small oblong tablettes, enclosed in tin 
foil, but if not well preserved from the action of the air, they 
soon acquire rancidity, when they are no longer fit for medi- 
cinal use, as they impart an effect directly contrary to that in- 
tended. 
It is often found adulterated with suet, which permits it to 
be sold at a low price. This fraud, to those unaccustomed to 
the appearance of the Beurre de Cacao, is difficult to recog- 
nise, and the only method so far known is to test its degree of 
fusibility. 
Pure butter of cocoa melts at 76° F. and congeals at 60° F. 
When suet is added, the point of fusion varies considerably. 
Butter of cocoa is officinal in the French Codex. It is valued 
in medicine principally for its qualities as an emollient, being 
in great esteem as an outward application to hemorrhoidal tu- 
mours and chapped papilse. It is likewise employed in the 
VOL. VII. — no. i. 3 
