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Page 6
2. _Consolidated Nibs_--_i.e._, cocoa-nibs ground between heated
stones, whence it flows in a paste of the consistency of cream, which,
when cool, hardens into a cake containing all the cocoa-butter. Cocoa
in this form (mixed with sugar before cooling) is served in the
British Navy--a somewhat wasteful and inconvenient practice, as when
stirred, the excess of fat at once floats to the top of the cup, and
is generally removed with a spoon, to make the drink more appetising.
3. _Cocoa Essence._--This is the same article as No. 2, with about 60
per cent, of the natural butter removed; consequently the proportion
of albuminous and stimulating elements is greatly increased. It is
prepared instantly by pouring boiling water upon it, thus forming a
light beverage with all the strength and flesh-forming constituents of
the decorticated bean.[9]
Chemical analysis of cacao-nibs and cocoa essence shows them to
contain on an average:
Cacao-nibs. Cocoa Essence.
Cocoa-butter 50 parts. 30 parts.
Albuminoid substances 16 " 22 "
Carbohydrates (sugar, starch,
and digestible cellulose) 21 " 30 "
Theobromine 1.5 " 2 "
Salts 3.5 " 5 "
Other constituents 8 " 11 "
------ ------
100 100
The _cocoa-butter_ when clarified is of a pale yellow colour, and as
it melts at about 90� F. it is of great value for pharmaceutical
purposes, especially as it only becomes rancid when subjected to
excessive heat and light, as to the direct rays of the sun.
[Illustration--Drawing: ANALYTICAL APPARATUS.]
The _albuminoid_ or _nitrogenous constituents_ will be seen to form
about a sixth of the whole nib, or more than a fifth of the cocoa
essence, and to their presence is due the fact that absolutely pure
cocoa is such a remarkable flesh-former.
[Illustration--Black and White Plate: Cacao Crop, Trinidad.]
The _carbohydrates_, producing warmth and fat, are also important food
substances, the proportion of which, while forming about a fifth of
the whole bean, rises to close upon a third of the essence.
Cocoa also contains a _volatile oil_, from which it derives its
peculiar and delicious aroma.
Thus _nearly nine-tenths of the cacao-bean may be assimilated by the
digestive organs_, while three-fourths of tea and coffee are thrown
away as waste. For the same bulk, therefore, cocoa is said to yield
thirteen times the nutriment of tea, and four and a half times that of
coffee. Its value as a substitute for mother's milk has already been
alluded to, but may well be emphasized by a quotation from a paper
read before the Surgical Society of Ireland in 1877 by one of its
Fellows, Mr. Faussett:
"Without presuming to pass any judgment on the many artificial
substitutes which, on alleged chemical and scientific
principles, have from time to time been pressed forward under
the notice of the profession and the public to take the place
of mother's milk, I beg to call attention to a very cheap and
simple article which is easily procurable--viz., cocoa, and
which, _when pure and deprived of an excess of fatty matter_,
may safely be relied on, as cocoa in the natural state abounds
in a number of valuable nutritious principles, in fact, in
every material necessary for the growth, development, and
sustenance of the body."
After giving some remarkable cases of children being restored from
"the last stage of exhaustion" by its use, and "continued through the
whole period of infancy," with the effect of their becoming fine,
healthy children, he concluded by saying:
"I beg therefore respectfully to commend cocoa, as an article
of infant's food, to the notice of my professional brethren,
especially those who, holding office under the Poor Laws, have
such large and extensive opportunities of testing its value."
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