pasta en proportionada cantitâ—d de agua poco mas de medio quartillo y dos onsas de asucar una de Chocolate y cuesse en una olleta uno o dos hervores al fuego y le dan con un molinillo hasta llevantar espuma y quanto caliente se puede se bebe el que se bebe desta manera se tiene por mas sano no soi de parecer se tâ—me muchas vezes por que inquieta el cossimiento y carga el estomago de muchas crudesas El Cacao comido confitado por la tarde quieta el suenno des todâ— la nâ—che Solo es bueno para los Soldados quâ— estan de posta La mantera del Cacao es dâ— grande provecho para las inflammaciones y para qual quiera fuegos y quemaduras y sobre todo para el tiempo de las virvelas y serampion y ampollas y llagas securan untandose a menudo con a quel aceite para el principio aumento estado de la Erysipela es gran sedante y el major anodino para el dolor que causan sus costras y postillas para los labios abiertos y grietas de las manos y en elrostro para las enzias que manan sangre con dolor se les quita effectos bien contrarios pero mejor conocidos por la experientia That is in English as follows THe Cacao-nut is cold and dry in its temperament and thereby it hath parts adstringent wherewith it obstructs It is at this day the most rich Merchandize in the Indies and it is of so high an esteem that they settle by right of Primogeniture on their Eldest Sons Farms of Cacao which yield annually twelve thousand Duckets The Cacaonut is exceeding nourishing which makes People doubt concerning its particular temperament The Oyl that comes from it when it is boil'd is white and imbodies into Grains which seems rather to be a sort of butter it is to be extracted by roasting in a large earthen pot such as we bake meat in and it doth not well in a brass vessel The Nut is grinded in a Stone-Mortar with a Stone pestel both of them being hot and being made into a paste it is set on a Charcoal-fireâ— in a Pipkin and as it heats there rises up to the top the butter and an Oyl more red then the flame or fire of Charcoal both having but one taste In like manner it is roasted to make the Drink And as they grinde or beat it up in a Mortar they mix with the Paste some Anise-seeds Cinnamom and a few Cloves adding to three pounds of Cacao two ounces of Anise-seeds one of Cinnamom and half an ounce of Cloves with which they grind it on the Stone two or three times and then they put it into little boxes or they make little Cakes of one ounce-weight which is the proportion of Chocolata to make one draught This is the Royal Chocolata being the best and most wholesom and which is drunk by the Nobility and Persons of the best rank Others mix with it the flower of Maiz and in New-Spain they mix therewith the fine Powder of Bisket-bread but this sort of Chocolata laâ—ts not long to keep is not good but weak because the flower of Maiz which they put in is not boil'd and prepared and though the Maiz be prepared by roasting yet it yields but bad nourishment it begets Obstructions and a thousand Aches and Distempers In other parts they mix with the Cacao-paste some Achiote which serves to provoke Urine And the way of making their Chocolata-drink is this They scrape the Cacao-paste and dissolve it in a proportionate quantity of water to a little more then half a pint of water they put in two ounces of Sugar and one of the Paste of Cacao and they let it boil in a pot one or two woulms over the fire and then they mill it till it rise with a large froth they drink it as hot as they can possible and they that drink it so think it to be most wholesom And I am of the Opinion that it ought not to be drunk too often because it disturbs Concoction and loads the Stomach with many Crudities The Cacao-nut being made into Confects as Almond-confects are made being eaten at night makes Men to wake all night-long and is therefore good for Souldiers that are upon the Guard The Cacao-butter is excellently usefull in case of Inflammations and any scalds or burns and especially in the small-Pox and pustulous Tumours and eruptions from heat and Bruises they are cured by anointing therewith in the beginning encrease state or declination of the Erysipelas or St. Antonie's-fire It is a great cooler and allayer of pains created by Crusts or Scars upon Sores and Pimples and in chopped Lips and Hands and Face and Gums which bleed and are dolorous It produceth effects very various and contrary one to another which are best known by Experience An account of the Distillation of the Cacao-nut perform'd by Mr. Le Febure WE took eight Ounces of the Cacao-nut and without hulling them beat them to a gross powder and put them in a Retort we found the body so fix'd that with an ordinary Fire there came nothing over but a white liquour in a very small quantity so clear as water which we suppose to be the Phlegm Then we encreased the Fire to such an heat as if we had been to draw Spirit of Vitriol then there came over within the space of seventeen hours Operation first a Spirit that was as white as Milk in Vapours and whereas all other Spirits usually ascend in the Recipient these did descend and fall to the bottom and after that but with a great reverberating Fire such as he never put to any Vegetable there came over the Oyl which was red as blood but clear resembling any Tincture for clearness after it was cold it became thick like to the Oyl or Butter of Wax for consistence The Caput Mortuum weighed one ounce and seven drams of the Spirit there was about two ounces and the remainder Oyl three ounces and an half besides what was lost in filtrating and other contingencies Upon Separation the Spirit was as red as blood like to any exquisite Tincture of Santals however it were white in the first distilling which is to be attributed to its being commix'd in the distilling with the subsequent Oyl The Spirit was not very hot but exceeding penetrative and not unpleasant as to smell or taste as other Spirits drawn from blood or flesh are But however it had not any empyreuma nor had that odiousness which attends Spirits drawn from flesh yet had it an evident affinity but with a peculiar in mildness with flesh The Oyl was not very unpleasant but miraculously piercing the Volatile Salt of which there was a great quantity being unseparated and had an unexpressible Aromaticalness upon the tongue
offend mine yet I fear that neither the adstringent bitterness of the Cacao-paste which alone I drunk nor the aid of Achiote Sugar and Spices which may loose their virtue by boiling and are not used by the Indians will render it supportable to tender Stomachs so exceeding unctuous is the broth or Drink But the most ordinary way is to warm the water very hot and then to poure out half the cup-full that you mean to drink and to put into it a Tablet or two or as much as will thicken reasonably the water and then grind it well with a Molinet and when it is well ground and risen well to a scum to fill up the cup with hot water and so drink it by sups having sweetened it with Sugar and to eat it with a little Conserve or Maple-bread steeped into the Chocolatte Of this last way Mr. Gage saith not only that it is the most used but that certainly it doth no harm and he recommends it to the practise of the English he gives no reason why the Chocolata may not be milled with all but a part of the hot water nor do I apprehend any except that the vessel in which it is made may be so little as that it may not be able to contain the whole liquour to be milled and prepared for it must be done in a pretty deep vessel that it may have room to dash about the sides without flying out or running over as it is mill'd Otherwise I think no man will believe that there can be so equal and due commixture in the Chocolata-drink if one half only be mill'd and the other half of water poured to it as if the whole were milled together and consequently it cannot be so good Wherefore the way now used at Sevil seems more rational whereby it is thus made The Chocolata-cake in a due proportion that is in my Chocolata one ounce of Paste two ounces of Sugar and eight of Water is dissolved in hot water it never boiling at the fire after the Chocolata is put in because say they it will by boiling grow sowrish or be so depraved as to subvert the Stomach Then it is well milled that it may grow frothy and fatty then it is powred out into Xicharas or Cups and so drunk hot They give a special Caution that after it hath been once milled if it cool again it is not to be heated and mill'd a second time and so drunk Because they say it corrupts and sowres and herein they avouch their Experience and desire no reason may be urged against it This Caution being given concerning the best Spanish Chocolata and which most resembleth mine I could not omit and I am sure either it is not true though we finde a difference in broths when twice heated or it must arise from some Ingredient I suppose the Vaynillas and not from the Cacao the simple paste whereof I took and mill'd and kept it several days and heated it again and it was neither sowre nor offensive to my Stomach and I kept it three days longer and then heated it milled it and tasted it and it varyed not its relish but was inoffensive and free from sowrishness I boiled some of mine and drunk it cold unmilled without annoyance and I know a Lady that with success boiled it twice Here in England we are not content with the plain Spanish way of mixing Chocolata with water but they either use milk alone or half milk and half conduit-water or else thicken the water if they mix no milk with it with one or more eggs put in entire or yolks only into the water or where milk is mingled with the water In which way as it is sold in the Chocolata-houses there are these inconveniences if it be done with milk it is natural for milk being hot and standing so to cast up a Scum and if it cool it creams so that if the Chocolata be kept after it is milled and not immediatly drunk either upon your second milling it you must cast away the scum or cream if it stand cold or mill it into the Dâ—ink the former course weâ—â—ens it by casting away also the flower 〈◊〉 cream of the Chocolata and the latter renders it unpleasant And as to the mixture of eggs if they be put in with the yolks and whiteâ— and suffered to stand the whiteâ— will harden and disgrace the Chocolataâ— but if only the yolks be put in and well milled I have tryed them so by not only letting the Chocolata stand hot before the fire but even to boil it again and mill it and let it again stand for several hours before the fire and I have not perceived it to vary the taste or to embody into any thicker consistence then before it had only I observed that it did not yield so much cream or scarce any on the top nor such visible discoveries of fattiness as it would have done otherwisâ— and the setling at the bottom which upon refrigeration seemed as great ☞ as if no egg had been mix'd with it though the decoction or water were thicker much by reason of the additional yolk did not carry so much unctuousness being tasted as did those other setlings which I had tryed without commixing any egg with them either only once milling or boiling them also From whence I leave it to the more mature consideration of others to determine whether the commixture of an egg be good since it seems to hinder the dissolution of the Cacao into oily or unctuous parts and whether it may not produce a like effect in the 〈◊〉 as it does in the Pipkin Concoction being but a sort of Elixation and so impede the nourishment expected from the Chocolata it being oftentimes as true Quae prodesse queant singula juncta nocent as that other Saying Et quae non prosunt singula juncta juvant But these Experiments were made with the simple paste of the Cacao-nut and not with compound Chocolata In Spain to Cholerick constitutions and where there is any extraordinary heat or inflammation of the Liver or Kidniâ—â— I find that there is a more milde and temperate way of Chocolata then is usual prepared or else the usual one is diluted with Endive or Scorsonera water and where Phlegm and Crudities abound there it is prescribed with the water of Radishes Fennel or Carduus Benedictus which say they though some in England protest against it vary not the taste but encrease its virtue It is given thus by way of alteration as are other alteratives general Medicines being premised and every sixth day there is either another gentle purge given or the Chocolata is then dissolved in an infusion of Mechoacan or the like In the Winter it is drunk hot being given to open Obstructions and in the Spring it is drunk in a more moderate temper after it they prescribe Exercise for an hour or half an hour which must be moderate and this course is continued thirty or at least
better Every one of these Ingredients must be beaten by it self and then all be put into the vessel where the Cacao is which you must stir together with a spoon and then take out that paste and put it into a Mortar under which there must be a little fire after the Confection is made but if more fire be put under it then will warm it then the unctuous part will dry away The Achiote must also be put in in the beating that it may the better take the colour All the Ingredients must be searced except the Cacao and if from the Cacao the dry shell be taken it will be the better where it is well-beaten and incorporated which will be known by the shortness of it then with a spoon so in the Indies it is used is taken up some of the paste which will be almost liquid and made into Tablets or else without a spoon put into Boxes and when it is cold it will be hard Those that make it into Tablets put a spoonfull of the paste upon a piece of paper the Indians put it on the leaf of the plant in the tree where being put into the shade for in the â—un it melts and dissolves it grows hard and then bowing the leaf or paper the Tablet falls of by reason of the fatness of the paste but if it be put into any thing of earth or wood it sticks fast and comes not off without scraping or breaking I never saw any Chocolata made up in a mortar my self nor do I understand how the mixture can be accurately made therein Some beat the Spices severally in a mortar and searce them curiously but as the vehement agitation of the pestle doth dissipate the more subtle parts and it is long in doing so it doth not equally break them into small particles notwithstanding their passing the searce I conceive it a much better waâ— to beat the greater Spice grossly and afterwards to mix the Vaynillas cut into pieces and dryed and so to grinde them on a stone-table such as are made on purpose to make up Chocolata and so with less trouble and less dissipation of Spirits and subtle parts a gentle fire being under will they grinde to an impalpablâ— Powder each acting upon other in thâ— grinding as well as being pressed by the iron rowler and besides that mix most accurately The Spicery being thus prepared the Cacao nuts are dryed either on a digesting furnace or in a kettle over the fire stirring and turning them carefully that the nuts may so dry as to shell but not to burn for then the Chocolata will be bitter Being pill'd or shell'd the nuts being cold will beat to a powder which you may searce as you do the Spice which is the best way and practised by the best Chocolata-makers in Spain and by my self always The hulls also many of them are beat by themselves mix'd afterwards with the nut and Spice to compound Chocolata ordinarily in Spain and by many in England to make the common Chocolata And Mr. Gage and Piso whilst they say it is better to leave out the hulls leave us to conjecture that many put them in all Having thus prepared the Spicery and Nuts they are to be mix'd and gâ—inded on a table with a gentle fire under it In the working if the fire be too hot the Nuts will run into too great an oyliness or dissolution of the fatty parts and the Chocolata will not keep any time If it be too cold it will not work but stick to the rowler From whence we may judge of the controversie whether an iron or stone-table be best for on a thin iron-table it is impossible to preserve an equal heat and consequently some parts of the Cacao nut will be reduced to too great a dissolution and unctuousness and others to too little and this inequality must needs occasion an unequal mixture of parts and consequently a propensity to corrupt besides that they are enforced to make it up too soon it growing too oylie before the parts are equally mix'd But under a thick stone-table each degree of encreasing heat is soon observ'd and remedied I must also add that an iron-table works the Chocolata blacker then doth a stone CHAP. III. An enquiry into the nature of the particular Ingredients whereof Chocolata is made THe Cacao nut as it is the principal and constant Ingredient in the composition of Chocolata so it merits an exact enquiry into its nature for it is by it that we are mainly to give an estimate of the nature and effects of the whole Composition The Cacao nut if I may so call it and not rather the seed of a greater but disregarded fruit is a Nut bigger or as big as a great Almond which grows upon the Cacao-tree and ripens in a great husk wherein sometimes are found more sometimes less Cacaos sometimes twenty sometimes thirty nay fourty and above The tree is call'd by the Indians Cacaua Quahuitl it grows wilde in the moist grounds of Guatimala and Nicaragua and by plantation elsewhere to an indifferent heighth equal to our largest Plum-trees in bigness â—t abounds in foliage and the leaves are sharp-pointed compar'd by soâ—â— to the leaves of Chesnuts and by others to the leaves of an Orange It beâ—rs a great Flower of a Saffron-colour which fading way there succeeds a large fruit call'd Cacauacentli when it is ripe it is as big as a Musk-million as thick and as weighty if we may believe Piso and Hernandez though others think the comparison too large since in Iamaica they are not observ'd to exceed the bigness of a large Pear But there are several sorts of Cacao-trees and their Nuts differ more or less in faculty so that difference of trees and soils may occasion the discrepancy of Authors Within this putaminous husk or large fruit ly the Cacahuatl or as the Spaniards corruptly call them the Cacao nuts being about the bigness of Almonds each of them enveloped in a slimy substance and film of a Phlegmatique complexion but of a most relishing tast which the women love to suck of from the Cacao finding it cool and in the mouth dissolving into water Under which is another shell which when bak'd in the Sun somewhat resembles the colour and substance of a Châ—snut-hull Under that hull is lodged that nut which is the most pretious commodity in the Indies as Acosta and others tell us and which makes up Câ—iefly our Chocolata It is of a colour like to the outside of a Chesnut and divided into several scissures and pieces as is a cow's-kidney but yet joyned together and in those small divisions after dâ—ying there seems to remain some little reliques of a Phlegmatique moisture which often degenerates into an hoaâ—iness and at last ends in the final corruption of the Nut. It is of such a substance that being dryed on a digesting fornace or pan it will beat to a fine powder being
laid on a stone or table the least warmth makes the said powder dissolve into an oyliness or fattyness instantly and it will alone work into a paste without any intermixture and keep a year Which paste well made up alone or with Pocholt was I presume all the Chocolata that Motezuma and the antient Indians had then dissolving it in Atolle It will beat into a Powder and so may be remix'd with new Ingredients of spicery and sugar to make the more delicious Chocolata I took a quantity of it being exquisitely ground and dissolved it in hot water and having â—et it stand a while by the fire to dissolve I milled it without the mixture of any thing but pure Cacao paste and water it frothed moderately but the froth was but of little continuance and being suffered to cool it gathered like fat both in colour and substance on the top of the most fat broths or pottage to a great thicknesse but when it came to be cold however it had before a resemblance rather of fat then oyl it gathered into a resemblance of crâ—â—m and indeed it had just such a consistence but the colour was yellowish To the bottom there did settle a great quantity which I took and tasted of and I found it to tast just as Almond butter exactly as to its unctuousnesse but it had the bitternesse which is proper to the Cacao nut The water it self beneath the cream was reddish and after I had purely taken of the cream it had not only a fatty taft but taking some out and bathing my hands in it I found it extreme fatty I took that Setling and heated it in fresh water â—ill it began to boil then I milled it again and let it stand to cool it was at first extraordinary fatty then being cold it yielded its cream and a red shining Cacao-butter as I may call it by an allusion to Almondâ—butter and a coloured fatty water as before only with this difference that the Cacao butter seemed a little less unctuous and not so perfectly to dissolve and glide off the tongue as before Which put me upon another Experiment of decocting and milling it till I might extract all the fat out of it and discover the nature of this setling if it might be so terrestrial and obstructive as some imagine I heaâ—ed the aforesaid setling in fresh water and milled it well and instead of crâ—am though the water as it cooled shewed signes of a great fattinesse there did gather on the top a thin covering or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if I may so call it of fat such as will rise on mutton pottage not too fat The watâ—â— proved unctuous to my hand as before but the seâ—ling had no longer the fineness and melâ—ing taâ—t of Almond butter but seem'd as if it were not finely powder'd and besides its bitterishnesse to have an evident piercing adstringency From whence I concluded that it could not be obstructive but opening and that when the fatty alimentous parts were distributed for nourishment the others as before they seemed to corroborate the stomach and promote digestion which things moderately bitter and adstringent do so now they open the obstructions promote concoction in the several guts and go away in stool which is the excellency of bread corn that the bran doth promote the appetite and digestion and keeps the body open and is more healthy then Manchet and it is mix'd by many with successe in Diet-drinks to this end And it is further observable that in this Experiment whereas the Nut it self and the paste of Cacao and the Cream and the two first Setlings yea and the Fatty water did by their burning give more or lesse visible testimonies of their unctuous nature in their flames the last greety and incoherent Setling would not burn at all in flames Besides during the reiteration of these Experiments which was a fortnight there never appeared any augmentation of the cream by standing beyond a few hours nor no alteration in it by standing sâ—â—dry dayes the cream the water the Setling were still the same as to consistâ—nce colour and taste it never as to any part of it sowred in a fortnight's keeping nor gave any sign of corruption though during that time I boiled and milled the same decoction several â—â—mes and upon any fire to heat it I observed that Setling to arise and incorporate with the rest the cream dissolving as Urine when turned at the fire and when it cooled it did resetle before as the said Urines do in like case At the same time as I tryed sundry Experiments with paste of the one lump I observed that having boiled the water and dissolved the Cacao paste in it and milled it but a little though upon cooling it seemed very fat yet did it yield but little cream Another part that was well milled and yielded as much cream as covered the pipkin all over to a moderate thicknesse being skimmed and milled and cool'd and creamed again I took it and heated it till it began to boil and then poured it out of the pipkin instantly and it came out so clearly and without any reliques of water in the pipkin as water doth usually glide off oyled cloth or other vessels when cold water is powred on cold grease And this happened upon three tryals the water being thoroughly unctuous by being twice or thrice heated and milled for else it succeeds not and to make it more conspicuous in several parts off the pipkin I could observe some little remainders of the water slide off in round globes or corpuscles as it will do off oyled cloth or greased vessels From whence I thougâ—t I might collect a reason why the farrynesse of the Nut doth not annoy the stomach being taken in drink as other fat or oyl will for it exactly commixs with the liquor and swims not on the top in these last Experiments it was never milled but having been milled some dayes before and cooled in the pipkin it was again heated and stirred with a spoon a little and powred out and if as it cools part of it seem to ascend yet doth not that all condense into cream but the water under is fatty and as it is hot and boils it is still so as appears by this Experiment which happens not so in other fat broths Thus the unctuous parts not floating as in fat or butter dissolved in posset drink to provoke or help vomits on the top and the bitterish and adstringent parts by a little heat commixing with the other it must be a very great repletion can make Cacao paste offensive to the stomach and its orifice I took also Cacao paste and dissolved and milled it well in cold water and it did froth and upon standing yield a cream in as great a proportion as that did which had been dissolved in hot water and well milled the cream was yellowish and inflammable the setling was just as to â—â—lour and taste like to the other
saving that drinking of it before it setled I found it to be nauseous to the stomach so as I who hitherto never distasted any thing I had a mind to take could not much relish the drinking of it not that it was vehemently cold to the stomach but that the fattinesse of it made the water unpleasant being cold and it had also a rawishnesse in it as if the fat required boiling or further Cookery which yet I felt not upon eating either the nuts or paste of Cacao Or else it was because that the warmth of the water causeth a more absolute commixture of the parts which may prevent as well as of those which may cause nauseousnesse Or it was because that many things may be taken hot without offence or distast which cannot be so when cold the heat of the vehicle either correcting the potion or corroborating the stomach I took also some simple Cacao paste and put it into cold water and set it on a gentle fire stirring it with a spoon till it was dissolved I suffered it to boil gently and kept it all day in such a posture that it did either boil or continued boiling hot but rather the latter After it had stood seven or eight hours during which time I observed the Decoction to grow extraordinary oily and to fill the spoon with a water so thick that I thought it was transformed all into fat and oil â— it appeared all full of globous corpuscles 〈◊〉 if it had been oil broken into parcels but these Corpusâ—les did never embody into greater quantities nor commix upon agitation yet by long digestion I observed they grew to a larger size yet would not commix there being besides them a distinct fattinesse to be seen And in the end I perceived a new body to discover it self in great quantities it was not globous but flattish and for colour and taste and nature participated more of mutton fat then any thing else It was of colour yellowish inclining to white and had little taste of the Cacao's bitternesse or adstringency These fatty Particles I could not get to embody into one or more bigger bodies though I could agiâ—â—te them with a spoon for I never milled them into lesse yet did I perceive that some of them were bigger then others and at last some of them did enlarge themselves into a size as broad as a Groat and of an indifferent depth or thicknesse yet could I not stir these into one or more bigger masses Whereupon I set it to cool and it was long before these bodies of oil fat did harden and disappear out of their former shape so that I thought I had resolved it into Oil since no Cream was to be seen But being called away by business which permitted me not the leasure to observe the minute â—â—anges in this reiterated Experiment at my return I found several whitiâ—â— or pale-yellowish bodies like to Fat swimming on the top there being no Cream nor other body to overcast the top and hinder their free floating some were bigger thicker and broader and longer then others and of no determinate Figure They were very solid and melted on the tongue totally as Fat or Butter would or Clarified Deer's-suet to which they were equal in hardnesse they had as I and others judged a farewell or relish of the Cacao at last upon the tongue So that I observed that no dissolution could totally separate its bitterishnesse and little piercing adstringency which is peculiar to the Nut and consequently it could never easily become offensive or obstructing The Water or Decoction was fatty and had a deep red tincture and the Setling as it was deeply red so it had little of Oilinesse or resemblance of Almond butter but it was attended with a roughnâ—sse or sensible inequality of parts the unctuousnesse being almost as much extracted from this Setling as from that which had been Decocted and Milled in several Waters of which I already spoke I could see no tokens of what carryed whilst it was hot the appearance of Oil. Having shewed it for several dayes to divers persons I heated it again and instantly the said hard Fat dissolved the Setling did remix with the rest of the Liquor and I had a Decoction of a most deep red and swimming with largâ— Fatty â—â—d Oily Particles I caused it to be well mâ—â—led and setting it to cool the said large innatant bodies resembling a Solution of Fat in Water and parcels of Oil were dissipated and broken or so incorporated with other Corpuscles that I could get very few and those very very small pieces of solid Fat the same happened in compound Chocolata though I had before had lumps that might weigh ten or twelve grains But there did gather on the top a skin or cuticle very thin though the body of the water and top did shine with a visible Fattishnesse and powred out of the pipkin with such an unctuousnessâ— or oylinesse being scalding hot that nothing did or would stick or otherwise then glide off as from oiled cloth which it doth not when powred out cold Of fat it was not hard but having an affinity with the usual cream already mentioned in other tryals but improportionate to the fat dissolved and the setling seemed to me more unctuous then bâ—fore and like Almond butter I have not time to multiply reflections hereon but whosoever shall set himself to observe the dissolution of Cacao paste or Chocolata cakes according as they are milled in water or not milled and according as they boil and not boil therein and according as they gradually dissolve on a quick or leasurely fire will finde a great diversity of parts occasioned by the different texture of â—â—em and shall finde both colour and taste to vary several times especially in the Compound Chocolata to his amazement I shall conclude with one tryal more The powder of Cacao paste tastes very fatty yet according to variety of nuts it dissolves with the least heat on a stone like butter but a great heat dries it and leaves a red bitterish and astringent powder behind I took also of the said paste and heated it on a fire shovel and if at first it melted with a gentle heat it did evaporate away its oily parts by a more violent one and smelling to the smoke arising from it I had my smell affected with such a nidor as issues from fat when broiled on the coals but milder These circumstances of its fattinesse and oilinâ—sse and of its nidorous exhalations being burned do very much recommend the Nut for a very nutritive thing It s dissolving by the least fire or warmth argues its facile digestiblenesse It s easy concretion evidenceth its promptitude to be assimilated into nourishment of the parts And its nidorous vapour being burnt proves that it carries with it if any can doubt this that sees the Oil or Fat swimming in the pure Cacao decoction at least a potential fat and is a greater â—logy
with an Egg for I care not for milk alone But most usually I take three quarters of a pint of good Conduit water well-boil'd and dissolve in it stirring it frequently with a Spoon one ounce of Chocolata and two ounces of fine Sugar having let it stand before a moderate fire to dissolve when it is so dissolved as that the liquour seems very fatty with a yellow fat and that there sticks to the spoon an undescribable unctuousness or oyliness however that the Chocolata be not half dissolved but that a great part of it still swim in great stakes and small parcels up and down I proceed to mill it very well and then set it to the fire again to dissolve more perfectly and having let it stand a good while even till it be ready to boil of near upon it I mill it once more with great diligence and then either drink it alone which is the common Indian and Spanish way or putting in one Egg white and yolk without ever beating it before breaking it into the water and immediatly milling it very hard sometimes playing the molinet and that most at first especially to break the Egg and hinder its curdling on the top of the water and sometimes at the bottom And I have observed that by this course the Chocolata when taken without an Egg becomes better tasted then otherwise it would and if an Egg be put in the Chocolata is farr better dissolved and swims with a greater oyl or fat on the top then if the Egg were put in sooner and never so long milled Nor doth the Egg harden or curdle if dropped in whole without beating but dissolve better if nimbly milled and that towards the top where the Egg floats at first then if it were beaten much and put in afterwards by little and little I prepare no more at once then I drink that time not that I feel any offensiveness in what hath been once heated and cold before it be heated again for me but because I finde an observable difference betwixt fresh and old Chocolata-liquour the Spice evaporating their more subtile parts But the discrepancy is not such as is in Pottage or Gruel c. twice heated nor do I know what reason the Spaniards have to prohibite so severely the use of Chocolata twice heated I drink it moderately hot and dip a piece of diet-bread or wig c. in it I drink it without proportion but commonly half a pint or more and this I do twice or thrice in a day nay before Diner with a sensible refreshment finding it to keâ—p my body soluble enough as I could wish though otherwise I am inclined to costiveness Sometimes I put in a spoonful of Orange flower-water which gives it a most excellent taste if the water be good sometimes if I am faint with business I put in a glass of good Canary or Malaga-Sack in which I imitate the antient Romans who did usually mix their old and well-bodyed Wines with hot water which in several houses call'd Thermopolia was kept always ready for entertainment And this practise of theirs is asserted by Campanella for the most wholesom way of drinking Wine And Costaeus tells us that for a weak Stomach there is not any thing more profitable then a draught of hot Wine which I have known experimented in England with good success not only in the case mentioned but in sundry Atrophies and Consumptions And Vallesius tells us that however it be Proverbially said that Wine is the old Man's milk yet is it indigestible if it be not first heated I have sometimes Aromatised it with a few Sassafrass Chips not unpleasingly They who would put in emulsions or the like must dissolve and mix the Chocolata with less water and having mill'd it well then put in the emulsion c. and mill it again As to the times whereat I take it I observe none particularly besides the taking of it in a Morning and Evening sometimes sooner sometimes later as occasion permits Nor do I regard the quantity taking frequently a pint but usually above half a pint eating tosted wig or diet-bread often with it What it may do to others I know not but I never found my sleep retarded or distuâ—bed by it it is possible some may finde it otherwise for if Sleep be a relaxation of the Nerves and vacation from sense thorough wearisomness of the Organs what corroborates Nature and dispells wearisomness may without its disparagement retard sleep I have often wonder'd to hear upon how inconsiderable causes many complain though they have no occasion to sleep yet if they sleep not at certain times they entertain strange thoughts of their danger of sickness and condemn the occasion of it presently So if they eat not flesh at least once or twice a day they repute their Stomach to be lost and imagine they must dy not regarding that the end of food is to repair the defects of Nature and prevent its decay for the future and when we enjoy these ends we are not to be solicitous of any particular means further to procure what we already possess To Eat to Drink to Sleep were there no need thereof were folly and he makes Reason submit to Custom or Conceit who Eats Drinks or Sleeps when he is sensible there is no necessity of it and incurs by a superfluity dangers he would avoid Nizolius the great Ciceronian slept not of ten years others have watched longer as you may read in Heurnius without prejudice Several have never drunk and others have to avoid a Dropsie or the like for a long time refrain'd all Drink and done as well or better then others and the case of Rabbets Sheep and sundry Birds evidence the possibility of the Antient and Modern Relations in this case As for Eating except the Maid of Confolans recited by Citesius I can hardly credit any that have subsisted without that but without doubt a greater temperance might be practised therein then is used And upon the aforementioned Account some cry out upon Chocolata as if it destroyed their sleep others that taking it they can eat no Diner after it it preventing their appetite thereunto but would these people be pleased to think that Chocolata feeds more then their Diner of the loss of which they complain and that they are in no danger of dying by hunger whilest they fâ—ed hereon the formality of eating a seâ— Meal would not be insisted on I must profess I never could observe in my self any alteration of my Stomach by drinking Chocolata in a Morning and if any have it is because their Stomachs are weak and that their Diner would not digest well with them if they had it Is it not sufficient that Chocolata offends not their Stomach and that their Blood depurates it self upon the taking thereof by Sweat Vrine Stool and Expectoration Let them but consider how apt Meat is to corrupt on the Stomach how little it agrees with a