The Natural History of Chocolate Part 6

In the first place, one may a.s.sert, that being well managed, it has a very agreeable Smell, and a peculiar Delicacy in the Taste; besides, it pa.s.ses very easily off the Stomach, nor leaves any Settling either in the Chocolate-Pot, or in the Dishes.

In the second place, one has the Satisfaction to prepare it one's self to one's own Taste, to encrease or diminish at pleasure the Quant.i.ties of Sugar or Cinnamon, and to add or leave out the Orange-Flower Water, or Essence of Amber; and, in a word, to make any other Alteration that shall be most agreeable.

In the third place, they make no Additions that destroy the good Qualities of the Kernels; it is so temperate, that it may be taken at all Times, and by all Ages, in Summer as well as in Winter, without fearing the least Inconveniency: Whereas _Chocolate_ season'd with _Vanilla_, and other hot and biting Ingredients, cannot but be very pernicious, especially in Summer, to young People, and to dry Const.i.tutions. The Gla.s.s of cold Water that they have introduced to drink before it, or after it, only serves to palliate the Effects for a Time; for the Heat that attends it, will manifest itself in the Blood and _Viscera_, when the Water is drain'd off and gone, by the ordinary ways.

In the fourth place, a Dish is so cheap, as not to come to above a Penny. If Tradesmen and Artizans were once aware of it, there are few who would not take the Advantage of so easy a Method of Breakfasting so agreeably, at so small a Charge, and to be well supported till Dinner-time, without taking any other Sustenance, Solid or Liquid.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Or rather grate it with a flat Grater, when the Cakes are so dry that they will not be so easily sc.r.a.ped with a Knife.

[2] Because if it was in a Lump, it would weigh more than double the Quant.i.ty of sc.r.a.ped Chocolate.

[3] The oily Parts of the Chocolate would not readily unite with the aqueous or watry Parts of the Liquor, without the Intervention of the Egg, which serves as a common Bond, without which this Drink would not have a good Head.

[4] The Proportion of Liquor should be about eight Ounces, or half a Pint, to one Ounce of Chocolate.

SECT. II.

Of the Uses that may be made of Chocolate with relation to Medicine.

I have always imagined it would be a very great Advantage to Physick, if Medicines could be administred to sick People under an agreeable Form, and a familiar Taste; and the Artifice itself of giving any thing under the appearance and name of something that is delicate, is not without its Benefit: People afflicted with Distempers, have enough to do to support their Pains, without the Inconveniency of distastful Remedies; however, it would be no small matter to spare them the Aversion they have to every thing that is called a Medicine; and when there is a Necessity for such, Chocolate may serve for very proper Diet, and an excellent Vehicle, wherein to take a Medicine at the same time.

These have been my Thoughts for some Time, and I can affirm that a happy Success has often confirm'd my Opinion. I could wish that this Essay, imperfect as it is, might serve to waken the Attention of some ingenious Physician, who would give himself the trouble to handle this Matter with greater Accuracy than my small Penetration will permit me to do.

1. How many People neglect to purge themselves, and are so obstinate as to refuse to do it, when they have the greatest need of it, and this because of the great Distaste they have for ordinary Medicines? Will it not be of the greatest Service to teach them to purge themselves after a delightful Method, and even, if it was necessary, to purge them without their knowledge? To do this, you need only mix 20 or 26 Grains of _Jalap_ in Powder, (more or less, according to the Age and Strength of the Person) with so much Powder of Cinnamon as is common for a Dish of Chocolate, and to give this Dish as if it were ordinary Chocolate. I have had great Experience of this, it is a good Purge without Griping; several have mistaken the Effect for the Benefit of Nature only, being entirely ignorant of the officious Deceit which I made use of for their sakes. What Advantages may not there be drawn from this Method of Purging apply'd to Children, who are so backward to take any thing that has the least ill Taste?

2. The Preparations of the _Cortex_, both Galenical and Chymical, have not succeeded. Its Infusion in Wine, heretofore so much cry'd up, contains but a part of the Vertue; for the _Faeces_, or the Bark that remains at the bottom of the Bottle, has Strength enough to cure the intermitting Fever. Thus after a thousand fruitless Trials, it is now given again in Substance, reduced to a very fine Powder, which is either made into _Bolus's_, or taken in Water. This Practice however is attended with several Inconveniences; for a great many People, especially Children, cannot swallow it in _Bolus's_. The same Inconveniences follow the other Way of taking it in Water, and is neither less troublesome, nor less nauseous.

To avoid all this, a Dram of the _Cortex_ reduced to a fine[1] Powder, and finely searced, and afterwards ground dry on a Porphyry, with the Cinnamon designed for a Dish of Chocolate, and mixed in the Chocolate with more Sugar than ordinary, may be taken without the least Reluctancy, and, if necessary, without being perceived: The Person will be nourished at the same time much better than with Broth, which is easily corrupted by a feverish Stomach; neither will the Particles of the _Cortex_ offend the Stomach, being wrapped up by the Unctuosity of the Chocolate. I have cured Intermittent Fevers after this manner, nor did it ever fail of good Success.

3. The most elaborate Preparations of Steel, are not one jot the better upon that account; the simple Filings have more Vertue than was ever extorted from this Metal by any Preparation: there is nevertheless an Inconveniency in the Use of them, because all the Particles of the Steel uniting together, by their Weight, at the bottom of the Stomach, form a kind of a Cake, which fatigues it, and makes it very uneasy.

To remedy this, after the Filings have been ground into a very fine Powder upon a Porphyry; you must mix it with the Cinnamon, when you make your Chocolate, and it is certain that the Particles of the Steel will be so divided and separated by the Agitation of the Mill, and so entangled in the Chocolate, that there will be no danger of a future Separation. Besides, the aromatick Particles of the Cinnamon, and the alkaline ones of the Chocolate, will not a little add to the Strength and Operation of this Remedy.

4. After this manner may you mix with the Chocolate the Powders of _Millepedes_, _Vipers_, _Earthworms_, the Livers and Galls of Eels, to take away the distasteful Ideas that the Sick entertain against these Remedies.

5. The Use of Milk is a specifick Remedy for the Cure of several Distempers, but by Misfortune there are but few Stomachs that can bear it, and several Methods have been try'd to find out Help for this Inconvenience. Without troubling myself to mention or examine them, will it not be an easy and natural Method, to hinder the Milk from curdling on the Stomach, to pour a hot Dish of Chocolate upon a Pint or Quart of Milk? The butirous Parts of the Milk and Chocolate, are in reality a.n.a.logous to each other, and very proper to be united for the same Purpose; and what is bitter and alkaline in the Chocolate, ought necessarily to hinder the curdling of the Milk in the Stomach. It is easy to confirm by Experience the Reasoning upon this sort of Chocolated Milk.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] This, if true, overturns what has been said about the Mechanical Cure of an Ague, by _Quincy_, who pretends that the Vertue of the Cortex lies in its Texture, which this Preparation destroys.

CHAP. III.

Of the Oil or b.u.t.ter of Chocolate.

Chocolate Kernels are a Fruit very oleaginous, but the Oil is very closely united with the other Principles, that it requires a great deal of Labour to separate it, and to make it pure. The three common Ways to extract Oils, are by Distillation, Expression, and Decoction; we reject the first as being very imperfect, because the Violence of the Fire alters the Nature of all Oils that are extracted that way. The Success will answer no better by Expression, because that which is got will be very impure and in very small Quant.i.ty. There then remains no way but by Decoction, to draw out this essential Oil that we are in quest of, which is the true and the only way, for it gives it in its utmost Purity without any Alteration.

They take Chocolate that is roasted, cleaned, and ground upon the Stone, they throw the Paste into a Pan of boiling Water over a clear Fire; they let it boil till almost all the Water is consumed, then they pour more Water upon it till the Pan is full; the Oil ascends to the Top in proportion as the Water cools, and grows to the Consistence of b.u.t.ter.

If this Oil is not very white, it needs only be melted in a Pan full of hot Water, where it will be disengaged and purified from the red and terrestrial Particles that remain.

At _Martinico_ this Oil is of the Consistence of b.u.t.ter, but brought into _France_, it becomes almost as hard as _Fromage_, or _French_ Cheese, which melts nevertheless, and becomes liquid with a moderate Heat: it has no very sensible Smell, and has the good fortune never to grow rank; I have some of it now by me, that has been made this fifteen Years. One Year, when Oil of Olives failed us, we used that of Chocolate during the Time of _Lent_. It is very well tasted, and very far from being hurtful; it contains the most essential and most healthful Parts of the Chocolate.

I had the Curiosity to examine it by a Chymical a.n.a.lysis; I put three Ounces into a little Gla.s.s Cucurbit placed in the Heat of Ashes, there drop'd from it an oily Liquor, which congealed as it fell down, and which did not differ from the b.u.t.ter that I have described, but by a light Impression made upon it by the Fire. I only observed, that there was at the bottom of the Receiver, two or three Drops of a clear Liquor, which tasted a little acid, but very agreeable.

As this Oil is very anodyne, or an Easer of Pain, it is excellent, taken inwardly, to cure Hoa.r.s.eness, and to blunt the Sharpness of the Salts that irritate the Lungs. In using, it must be melted and mix'd with a sufficient Quant.i.ty of Sugar-Candy, and made into Lozenges, which must be held in the Mouth as long as may be, before they melt quite away, swallowing it down gently.

Oil of Chocolate also taken seasonably, may be a wonderful Antidote against corrosive Poisons.

Its Vertues are no ways inferior, if used outwardly.

1. It is the best and most natural _Pomatum_ for Ladies to _clear_ and _plump_ the Skin when it is _dry_, _rough_, or _shrivel'd_, without making it appear either _fat_ or _shining_. The _Spanish Women_ at _Mexico_, use it very much, and it is highly esteem'd by them. If it is thought too hard, it may be softened with Oil of Ben, or Oil of Sweet Almonds, cold drawn.

2. I am persuaded if the antient Custom of the _Greeks_ and _Romans_, of anointing their Bodies with Oil, was revived, there is nothing would answer their Expectations better, in augmenting the Strength and Suppleness of their Muscles, and preserving them from Rheumatisms and other torturing Pains. The leaving off this Practice, can be attributed to nothing else but to the ill Smell and other Properties that attended it; but if Oil of Chocolate was used instead of Oil of Olives, those Inconveniences would be avoided, because it has no Smell, and dries entirely into the Skin: nothing certainly would be more advantageous, especially for aged Persons, than to renew this Custom, which has been authorized by the Experience of Antiquity.

3. Apothecaries ought to make use of this preferably to all others, as the Basis of their Apoplectick Balsams; because all other Oils grow rancid, and the Oil of Nutmegs, though whiten'd with Spirit of Wine, always retains somewhat of its natural Smell, whereas Oil of Chocolate is not subject to any of these Accidents.

4. There is nothing so proper as this to keep Arms from rusting, because it contains less Water than any other Oil made use of for that purpose.

5. In the _American_ Islands they make use of this Oil to cure the Piles; some use it without Mixture, others melt two or three Pounds of Lead, and gathering the Dross, reduce it into fine Powder, and after it is finely searced, incorporate it with this Oil, and make a Liniment of it very efficacious for this Disease. Others for the same Intention mix with this Oil the Powder of _Millepedes_, Sugar of Lead, _Pompholix_, and a little _Laudanum_.

Others use this Oil to ease Gout Pains, applying it hot to the Part, with a Compress dip'd in it, which they cover with a hot Napkin. It may be used after the same manner for the Rheumatism.

6. _Lastly_, This Oil enters the Composition of the wonderful Plaister, and the _Pomatum_ against Tetters. You will find their Description and Properties among the Remarks at the End of this Treatise.

REMARKS Upon some PLACES of the TREATISE upon _Chocolate_.

REMARK I.

The _Coco-tree_ is the same as the Palm-Tree so famous in the _East-Indies_; its Fruit is call'd _Coco_, and care should be taken that it be not confounded with _Cocao_. I make this Remark, because I find that _William Dampier_ very improperly calls[a] _Coco's Cocao-Nuts_, and the Tree that bears them a _Cocao_.

REMARK II.

They have transported these great Trees from _St. Domingo_ to the _Vent Islands_; their Leaves being almost round, are firm and so smooth, that one would think they had been varnished. Their Fruit are sometimes as large as one's Head, and their Skins very thick: When that is taken off, the Pulp is very near the Colour, Smell, and Taste of our Apric.o.c.ks; in the Middle there are four Stones as big as Pullets Eggs, which are difficult to separate from the Fruit. They are eaten with Wine and Sugar; they make also very good Marmalade.