The Natural History of Chocolate Part 4

Without talking in the Dialect of the _Peripateticks_, about the Qualities of Heat and Coldness, now-a-days so much decry'd, it will not be difficult to prove that Chocolate is a Substance, 1. Very temperate.

2. Very nourishing, and of easy Digestion. 3. Very proper to repair the exhausted Spirits and decayed Strength. 4. _Lastly_, Very suitable to preserve the Health, and prolong the Lives of old Men. These four Articles shall be sufficiently demonstrated in the four following Sections.

SECT. I.

Chocolate is very Temperate.

Nothing is so great an Argument that _Wheat_, _Rice_, _Millet_, and _Manioc_, are salutary and temperate, as their being used by whole Nations together. If any of these Substances had any predominant evil Quality, it would soon appear to the Prejudice of the Health of Numbers; the People who subsist upon it, would soon leave it off as a very dangerous and hurtful Aliment.

One may reason much after the same manner with respect to Chocolate. The Natives of _New-Spain_, and of a great part of the Torrid Zone of _America_, have always used it as a Delicacy; and at this day all the _European_ Colonies which are establish'd in those Countries, make a Consumption of vast Quant.i.ties of it: These People use it at all Times, and in all Seasons, as constant daily Food, without regard to Age, s.e.x, Temperament, or Condition, without Complaint of having received the least Prejudice from it; they find on the contrary that it quenches Thirst, is very refreshing and feeding; that it procures easy quiet Sleep, and produces several other good Effects, to say nothing of those we are going to treat of in the following Sections. I could produce several Instances in favour of this excellent Nourishment, but I shall content myself with two only, equally certain and decisive in the Proof of its Goodness. The first is an Experiment of Chocolate's being taken for the _only_ Nourishment, made by a Surgeon's Wife of _Martinico_: She had lost by a very deplorable Accident her lower Jaw, which reduced her to such a Condition, that she did not know how to subsist; she was not capable of taking any thing solid, and not rich enough to live upon Jellies and nourishing Broths. In this Strait she determined to take three Dishes of Chocolate, prepared after the manner of the Country, one in the Morning, one at Noon, and one at Night. (There, Chocolate is nothing else but _Cocao_ Kernels dissolved in hot Water, with Sugar, and season'd with a Bit of Cinnamon.) This new way of Life succeeded so well, that she has lived a long while since, more lively and robust than before this Accident.

I had the second Relation from a Gentleman of _Martinico_, and one of my Friends, not capable of a Falsity. He a.s.sured me, that in his Neighbourhood, an Infant of four Months old unfortunately lost his Nurse, and its Parents not being able to put it to another, resolved through Necessity to feed it with _Chocolate_; the Success was very happy, for the Infant came on to a Miracle, and was neither less healthy nor less vigorous than those who are brought up by the best Nurses.

The Inferences that may be drawn from these two Histories are evident, and demonstratively prove that Chocolate has neither any intemperate nor hurtful Quality; I shall therefore say no more upon them, leaving every one to make his own proper Reflections.

SECT. II.

Chocolate is very nourishing and of easy Digestion.

This Proposition is a necessary Consequence of the foregoing, established by Facts which I have just related; and we have Experiments as convincing of its easy Digestion, and the Goodness of the Chyle that it makes; but it needs no other Proof than the good Condition it puts those in, who ordinarily make use of it.

A learned _Englishman_ has carried his Commendations so high concerning this particular Property of Chocolate, that he has not scrupled to affirm in a Dissertation that he has publish'd upon this Subject, That one Ounce of Chocolate contains as much Nourishment as a Pound of Beef.

As much out of the way as this a.s.sertion seems to be, one may easily conceive, that any Aliment is capable of yielding more plentiful Nourishment, if compar'd with any other, not only in respect to the Quant.i.ty, but also with relation to the Time that the Stomach takes to digest it.

Physicians are not agreed about the Causes of Digestion, but are divided into two Opinions, each of which is supported by the Writings of very eminent Authors; convinced of my own Inability to decide the Controversy, which also requires a large Field to expatiate in, I shall not undertake to defend either Fermentation or Trituration: But it will be sufficient to say, in two Words, that these Opinions are not absolutely incompatible[1]: it perhaps will not be difficult to make a sort of an Alliance or Agreement between them, by uniting whatever is plain and evident in the two Systems, and rejecting what is otherwise; and from hence form a third, which will be nothing but the Union of the uncontested Parts of the other two.

These two Causes undoubtedly concur in the Alteration that the Aliment undergoes in the Mouth; for the _Saliva_ that mixes with it in Mastication, and dilutes it, cannot be deny'd to be an admirable Ferment[2]; and the Tongue which moves it, and the Teeth which grind it, and break it, must be own'd to be the first Instruments of Trituration.

Now since Nature is commonly uniform in her Operations, and since there is a great deal of reason to suppose that Nature compleats Digestion by the same means that she has begun it, let us suppose it is really so for a Moment, and apply it to the present Subject, and then we shall see by what Evidence Chocolate ought to be of an easy Digestion.

In the first place, bitter and alkaline Substances, such as these Kernels, are stomachick and a.n.a.logous to the _Saliva_ and the Ferment which dissolves the Aliment in the Stomach; how then can it be of hard Digestion with these Qualities?

In the second place, if one considers attentively the Kernels as they are roasted, broke, and ground extremely fine upon a Stone, afterwards melted and dissolved in boiling Liquor, which serves as a Vehicle for it; it then seems very likely that the Stomach will not have much Labour left to do. In short, by it Digestion is more than half finished.

Experience confirms these Reasonings very much, for the Digestion of Chocolate is soon brought about without Trouble, without Difficulty, and without any sensible rising of the Pulse; the Stomach very far from making use of its Strength, acquires new Force. And I can farther say, upon my own Knowledge, that I have seen several Persons who had but weak Digestion, if not quite spoiled, who have been entirely recovered by the frequent Use of Chocolate.

SECT. III.

Chocolate speedily repairs the dissipated Spirits and decay'd Strength.

If Chocolate did not produce this Effect, but only as it is very nourishing, it would but have this Property in common with the most juicy Aliments, and such as are most proper to furnish a good Quant.i.ty of Blood and Plenty of Spirits: but its Effects are far more speedy; for if a Person, for Example, fatigued with long and hard Labour, or with a violent Agitation of Mind, takes a good Dish of Chocolate, he shall perceive almost instantly, that his Faintness shall cease, and his Strength shall be recovered, when Digestion is hardly begun. This Truth is confirmed by Experience, tho' not so easily explained by Reasoning, because Chocolate sensibly appears to be soft, heavy, and very little disposed by any active Quality to put the Spirits in motion; however, being resolved to neglect nothing that is likely to unfold the Cause of an Effect so wonderful, I undertook one day the _Chymical a.n.a.lysis_ of Chocolate, and altho' prejudiced that I should discover nothing this way but a superficial Knowledge, yet I was willing to flatter myself that my Enquiry would not be wholly fruitless.

I cleansed sixteen Ounces of Kernels without burning them, I ground them in a Marble Mortar, and afterwards put them in a Gla.s.s Retort well luted; I placed it in a Reverberatory Furnace, and fixed to it a large Receiver; and after having luted the Joints well, I gave it the first Degree of Fire.

The first that ascended was pure Phlegm, which dropt for about two Hours; a little white unctuous Matter swam on the top of it.

The Fire being augmented, the Drops became red, and congealed as they fell into the Receiver; this lasted about two Hours.

The Fire being again augmented, the Receiver was filled with white Clouds, which I saw resolve into a kind of Dew, white and unctuous, which was partly Spirit, and partly a white Oil; the red Drops however continued to the End, which was about two Hours and a half.

This Operation let me know that Chocolate contains two kinds of Oil; the one Red and Fixed, which congealed it self on the side of the Vessel; and the other White and Volatile, which proceeded from the white Clouds, and resolved itself on the other side of the Receiver.

On the Morrow after, having unluted the Receiver, and having placed it _in Balneo Mariae_, to melt the congealed Matter, I was agreeably surpriz'd to see the Vessel immediately fill'd with white Clouds: I very much admired the Volatility of this Unctuosity, and I was fully convinced, that Chocolate contained that _volatile Oil_ so highly esteemed in Medicine, and that one need not go farther to seek the Cause of the speedy Reparation of the fainting Spirits; which is confirmed by the daily Experience of those that use Chocolate.

Having separated the Spirit by filtring through brown Paper, I divided the butirous Matter into two Parts: I put one, without any Addition, into a little Gla.s.s Cucurbit, which I placed in a Sand-Heat to rectify it, and by this Operation I got an Oil of an Amber Colour, swimming upon a little Phlegm, or Spirit[3].

I melted the remaining Part, and having incorporated it with quick Lime, I put it into a little Gla.s.s Retort luted, and put Fire to it by degrees. There first came over a clear Oil, the white Clouds succeeded, and at length the reddish b.u.t.ter. Having unluted the Recipient, and put all in a little Cucurbit in a Sand-Heat, the white Clouds yielded an Oil of an Amber Colour; and having augmented the Fire, there came over a little red Oil, but no Spirit.

The Amber-coloured Oil is nothing else but the white volatile Oil, coloured a little by the Violence of the Fire: As for the red Oil, it seems to be the Remainder of the red b.u.t.ter, fit to be exalted. These two Oils will not mix together; for the red, more fixed than the other, always gets to the bottom. Mr. Boyle[54] said he extracted from Human Blood, two Oils very like those above mentioned; and this Conformity of Substances, very much convinces me of the great a.n.a.logy I always supposed to be between Chocolate and Human Blood.

As for the Spirit, it has nothing very disagreeable either in Taste or Smell, it does not sensibly ferment with Alkalies, nor alters the Colour of blue Paper; after some time, it grows a little acid, and tastes a little tartish.

Having calcined the _Caput Mortuum_, which is of a violet Colour and filtred and evaporated the _Lixivium_, as is usual; I got nothing from it but a kind of Cynder, a little saltish, and in so small a quant.i.ty, that I did not give myself the trouble to reiterate the Calcination, Dissolution, Filtration, and Evaporation; for I should hardly have got five or six Grains of fixed purified Salt.

I curiously observed, that neither in the Heads, nor in the Receivers, there did appear any signs of a volatile Salt: However, _M. Lemery_ a.s.sures us[55], that it contains a good deal; but it is plain he took his Opinion upon trust, for had he made the Experiment, he is too ingenious to be mistaken.

One may then conclude from these two Observations, That Chocolate is a mix'd Body, that has the least Quant.i.ty of Salt enters its Composition.

SECT. IV.

Chocolate is very proper to preserve Health, and to prolong the Life of Old Men.

Before Chocolate was known in _Europe_, good old Wine was called the Milk of old Men; but this t.i.tle is now apply'd with greater reason to Chocolate, since its Use has become so common, that it has been perceived that Chocolate is, with respect to them, what Milk is to Infants. In reality, if one examines the Nature of Chocolate, a little with respect to the Const.i.tution of aged Persons, it seems as though the one was made on purpose to remedy the Defects of the other, and that it is truly the _Panacea_ of old Age.

Our Life, as a famous Physician[56] observes, is, as it were, a continual growing dry; but yet this kind of natural Consumption is imperceptible to an advanced Age: when the radical Moisture is consumed more sensibly, then the more balmy and volatile Parts of the Blood are dissipated by little and little, the Salts disengaging from the Sulphurs, manifest themselves, the Acid appears, which is the fruitful Source of Chronick Diseases. The Ligaments, the Tendons, and the Cartilages have scarce any of the Unctuosity left, which render'd them so supple and so pliant in Youth. The Skin grows wrinkled as well within as without; in a word, all the solid Parts grow dry or bony.

One may say that Nature has formed Chocolate with every Vertue proper to remedy these Inconveniences. The volatile Sulphur with which it abounds, is proper to supply the Place of that which the Blood loses every day through Age, it blunts and sheaths the Points of the Salts, and restores the usual Softness to the Blood, like as Spirit of Wine united with Spirit of Salt, makes a soft Liquor of a violent Corrosive. This same sulphurous Unctuosity at the same time spreads itself in the solid Parts, and gives them, in some sense, their natural Suppleness; it bestows on the Membranes, the Tendons, the Ligaments, and the Cartilages, a kind of Oil which renders them smooth and flexible. Thus the _Equilibrium_ between the Fluids and the Solids is in some measure re-establish'd, the Wheels and Springs of our Machine mended, Health is preserved, and Life prolonged. These are not the Consequences of Philosophical Reflections, but of a thousand Experiments which mutually confirm each other; among a great Number of which the following alone shall suffice.

There lately died at _Martinico_ a Counsellor about a hundred Years old, who, for thirty Years past, lived on nothing but Chocolate and Biscuit. He sometimes indeed had a little Soop at Dinner, but never any Fish, Flesh, or other Victuals: He was, nevertheless, so vigorous and nimble, that at fourscore and five, he could get on horseback without Stirrups.

Chocolate is not only proper to prolong the Life of aged People, but also of those whose Const.i.tution is lean and dry, or weak and cacochimical, or who use violent Exercises, or whose Employments oblige them to an intense Application of Mind, which makes them very faintish: to all these it agrees perfectly well, and becomes to them an altering Diet.

On the contrary, I would not counsel the daily Use of it to such who are very fat, or who are wont to drink a good deal of Wine, and live upon a juicy Diet, or who sleep much, and use no Exercise at all: In a word, who lead a delicate, sedentary, and indolent Life, such as a great many People of Condition at _Paris_ are used to. Such Bodies as these, full of Blood and Juice, have no need of additional Nourishment, and the Diet will fit them better which is mentioned in Ecclesiast. _Plentiful Feeding brings Diseases, and Excess hath killed Numbers; but the temperate Man prolongs his Days[59]._

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The _Translator_ of this Treatise, who is a Physician, thinks it proper to observe, that the Opinions about Digestion, are deficiently related by our Author; for they are chiefly four, _Trituration_, _Fermentation_, _Heat_, and by a _Menstruum_, which are so far from being incompatible, that three of them necessarily concur to promote Digestion; to wit, _Heat_, and a _Menstruum_ or _Liquor_, and _Trituration_, or the Motion or rubbing of the Coats of the Stomach: For it is plain, if the two former are absent, there can be no Digestion, and without doubt the last does a.s.sist, but which is the princ.i.p.al, I shall not take upon me to determine.

[2] Our Author seems here either to mistake _Ferment_ for _Menstruum_, or to make them synonymous Terms: With this Allowance, his Reasoning is undoubtedly just; but as for a Ferment, in the usual Sense of that Word, it may justly be questioned whether there be any such in a Human Body.

[3] Our Author seems to make Phlegm and Spirit synonymous Terms in Chymistry.

[54] Pluribus abhinc Annis c.u.m Sanguinem conveniente admodum digestione, praepara.s.sem, & solicite distillatos Liquores supereffluentes flamma lampadis rectifica.s.sem: Inter alia duo obtinui olea diversi omnino Coloris, quorum alterum Flavedinem, aut pallorem Succini, alterum vero intensissimam Rubedinem imitabatur; illud autem ingeniosis etiam, lynceisq; Spectatoribus, miraculi instar erat, quod licet ambo haec Olea ab eodem sanguine emana.s.sent, forentq; pura satis & limpida, non tantum distinctis in Ma.s.sis sibi invicem supra innatarent, sed si agitatione commiscerentur, paulatim sese mutuo iterum extricarent, ut Oleum & Aqua.