is neither hot nor cold but a mean betwixt both as also neither moist nor dry but equally participating of both temperaments far from being of a gross and Viscuous nourishment as some have imagined They also are very much deceiv'd that affirm it begets obstructions but one may clearly see the contrary in the Savages who live upon it and are altogether unacquainted with opilations and obstructions and are never troubled with a pale and sickly complexion but they assure us that it is of an easie digestion and sharpens the Appetite That even before the coming of the Spaniards they never knew what were the pain of the Stone or Gravel in the Kidneys in fine the Savages have not a better and more expedient remedy than this to resist the sharp diseases the which experience does sufficiently testifie for Maiz boyled in Water does abundantly nourish the body and is digested without any trouble or difficulty it qualifies and softens the breast mitigates the heat or burning of Feavers chiefly the powder of its Root steept in Water and exposed to the cold of the Evening and afterwards drunk Then this Maiz boyled is not only a laudable and wholesom food but it may also be given without fear as well to those that are sick as to those that are in good health to young as well as to Old to Men and to Women of what condition soever they be and lastly it may be used in all Distempers without any hurt or trouble they say moreover that it provokes Urine and cleanses the Pipes Then since that the Maiz used as it ought to be brings along with it a thousand Commodities and no dammages unless as some affirm it breeds too much Blood and choler one ought not to hearken to those who affirm that it is hotter than our ordinary wheat that it is difficultly digested and that it begets Obstructions let us rather follow the Mexican Physitians who having rejected the Ptisana or Barly broth as troublesom to the distempered persons have constituted in its place the Atolle of which we will speak hereafter I 'le pass over in silence the manner of making the bread of Maiz as being nothing to our purpose and too much a digression the other thing is the Panick or Indian Oatmeal which is a small grain like unto millet with a knob full of Corn though the vulgar European Panick is not here meant but that which grows in the Indies which if the Reader has a mind to satisfie his curiosity he shall find more at large described by Dodonné in the fourth part of his History Of Plants book the 7. Chap. 26. and by Dalechart in the great Herbalest book 4. Chap. 20. The next ingredient is the Cinnamon but it seems our Author means the Cinnamon of the West-Indies and not that of the East-Indies which was unknown in New-Spain before the Spaniards had discovered it This Cinnamon is described by Monardes in his History Of Plants Chap. 25. Laet in his tenth Book Chap. 26. says that the Cinnamon Tree is as big as the Olive Tree producing certain little purses with their Flowers which being pounded come near in some sort to the East-Indian Cinnamon Monardes takes notice that they do rather make use of their Fruit than of their bark and that being beaten to a powder they fortifie the Stomach disperse the Wind make good breath take away the pains of the belly comforts the heart gives a good Colour to the food being mixt therewith just like the true Cinnamon This Cinnamon therefore is hot and dry in the third degree it is good for the Urine and the reins expels cold distempers 't is also useful for the eyes and in effect it is a Cordial as a certain Author says Commoda urinae Cinnamomum renebus affeâ—t Lumina clarificat dira venena fugat The Achiote the Virtue which our Author attributes to the Achiote is different from what Ximenes reports thereof for the one holds it to be refreshing the other that it heats yet it is not of great importance whatsoever is the quality thereof considering the small quantity that is made use of in the Chocolate has a cutting and attenuating heat as is evident by the ordinary practice of the Indian Physicians who having proved its effects do judge it to be cutting and rarifiing the gross humours causing shortness of breath which they call Asthma and the stoppage of the Urine and therefore 't is profitable and useful against all sorts of Opilations which we endeavour to overcome whither they be in the breast or in the region of the belly or in whatsoever part they be As for the Chiles some hold there are bâ—t two sorts of Chiles or Chilli the one the Eastern which is Ginger and the other Western which is the Pepper of Mexico the same they call pepper of Tobasco because it grows in great abundance in that Province of New-Spain from whence it takes its Name Our Author makes thereof four kinds but others make more of which number is the Father Iohn Eusebius in the 15 Book of his History Chap. 80. to which I refer the curious Laet in the last Chapter of his 5th Book says that this fruit grows on a Domestick or Garden Tree called Xocoxochitl the which is very big whose leaves are like those of the Orange tree and yield a very odoriferous smell its flowers are red like those of the Pomegranate tree the same Smell as the Orange very sweet and agreeable its fruit is round and hanging like Grapes which at first are green a while after red and at last black of a sharp and biting taste and of a good smell hot and dry in the third degree so that it may be used instead of Pepper the Apothecaries may imploy it to the same use as Carpobalsamum the Spaniards call it pepper of Tavasco I affirm that there be thereof four Sorts The first are called Chilcotes the second which are very little Chiltecpin which two sorts are very sharp and mordicant the third are called Tonachiles which are moderately hot so that they eat them with bread just as they do other fruit although they have a bitterish taste and they grow no where but in the Marshes of Mexico the fourth sort is called Chilpatlagua which was a kind of Chiles or Pimientoes very large they are not so biting as the two former nor so mild as the third and they are those which are used in Chocolate There be other ingredients that they put into this composition the cheif of which they call Mecasuchil This Plant is described by Laet in his fifth Book Chap. 4. There is an Herb he says by name Mecaxuchitl creeping upon the earth whose leaves are great thick and almost round sweet-smelling and of a sharp taste it bears a fruit like long pepper the which they mix with the drink of the Cacao call'd Chocolate to which it gives an agreeable savour it corroborates the heart and the Stomach
THE Manner of Making OF COFFEE TEA AND CHOCOLATE As it is used In most parts of Europe Asia Africa and America With their Vertues Newly done out of French and Spanish LONDON Printed for William Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple Bar near Devereux Court 1685. TO THE Right Worshipful Sr. THOMAS CLAYTON Kt. WARDEN OF MERTON COLLEDGE IN OXFORD THIS TREATISE IS Humbly Dedicated BY THE RANSLATOR IOHN CHAMBERLAYN THE PREFACE NATVRE desiring that Man should go forth of her hands as a perfect Master-peice and as a Microcosm full of wonders has made him a present of a considerable apanage to wit a sound and vigorous health that he may live the longer and exercise all his functions with the less trouble But as this health may be easily alter'd and destroyed by an infinite number both of external and internal causes the Divine Providence knowing that nothing can be more profitaâ—le more agreeable or more precious 〈◊〉 this her Creature than this incomparable benefit of health without which all the honours all the riches and all the delights of the world do perpetually incommode vex and tâ—rment a Man T is therefore very wise advice to draw out of the bosom of the Earth many sorts of Medicines as well for the conservations of those Persons that are in perfect health as for the ease and cure of those that are infirm and crazy In the mean time as Climates are very different th' one from th' other and as several Countries produce different species so Nature has distributed certain Plants and Drugs to some Countries which she has denied to others to the end that hereby she might the better favour the mutual commerce of all People and for the better cementing humane Society at which she alwaies seems particularly to aim since she has implanted the love and desire thereof in the minds of all except such as are ill natur'd and Men-haters who seem to be abhortives and monsters in Nature They therefore do seem to clash with Reason who in contempt of the sacred Rules of Divine Providence do hold that every Country ought to be content with the sole use of its own Drugs without seeking after those things wherewith Strangers and Foreigners may furnish us For is it not the meer effect of a capricious and peevish humour to desire without any reason to deprive Mankind of the use of those healthful productions wherewith Nature from all parts presents him and to hinder him from all advantages which he may thence expect Now amongst all the Drugs whereof Heaven has shewed it self liberal to Men there be three chiefly which in our time have required so great a vogue or credit and so particular an esteem through all Europe by the signal effects which they are daily found to produce in an infinite number of People who make use thereof with good success that I have thought it a thing of great importance to communicate to the publique some Discourses and Treatises made on this Subject compiled and gathered together in one Body that our Nation alwayes curious and greedy of no velty may understand the very depth and bottom of these abovesaid Drugs as well as others the use whereof has been but lately known amongst us yet they become more famousevery day than other by the frequent and dayly use we make of them and with a success which is no less wonderful than profitable those three Drugs which I mean and whereof I intend to treat here are COFFEE TEA and CHOCOLATE The two first are simple Drugs the latter is a mixt composition of several Drugs COFFEE grows in Arabia but the other two come from the Indies viz. the Tea from the East-Indies and the Chocolate or Cacao nut whereof it is chiefly made from the West-Indies The first peice I present you with in this Book is a curious Discourse of COFFEE done into French out of an Original Copy in Latine not long since composed by a very learned Physitian of Germany who would be nameless to the which I have added some draughts gathered out of the works of some learned Travellers on this same subject The Second Treatise consists of some particular Remarks extracted from the Dutch East-India Companies Embassy to the Emperour of China From a relation of the Voyage of the Bishop of Beryte to Cochinchina From the Voyage of Father Alexander of Rhodes And from the Medicinal Observations of Nicholas Tulpius a a Physician of Amsterdam The last peice is a Discourse of Chocolate made by a Spanish Physician named Antonio Colmenere of Ledesma I am perswaded that this little Collection will be well accepted by all good men who shall thereby be enabled to understand what excellent Vertues the Creator has distributed to these three foreign Drugs Which shall so much the more oblige them to admire and bless the Sovereign Author of all these Creatures and shall render them the more desirous to make good use thereof with continual Thanksgiving in all the Distempers wherewith they shall find themselves either threatned or really afflicted OF THE USE OF COFFEE ALthough the use and the eating of Beans were heretofore forbidden by Pythagoras because that their Flowers being spotted with a black Colour did represent a melancholly shape and the Souls of the dead that did dwell therein And though there be others that reject them affirming that the use of them dulls the senses and causes troublesome Dreams Yet because they serve us in the Nature of Victuals and Physick I shall not think my time and labour mis imployed if I communicate to the publick something on this Subject of Beans Nevertheless I don't mean to speak of our European Beans neither of the wilde nor those they sow whether they be Lupine or Kidney Beans or whatsoever sort of all which we were ever wont to make use either in the Kitchin or in the Drugsters Trade since that the most famous Physicians and Chyrurgions have employed them in the Cure of Maladies internal as well as external viz. In the Dropsie the Stone the Stoppage of the Urine the bloudy Flux Loosness Bruises and other Diseases Neither will I mention the Bean of Egypt which Dioscorides speaks of which the Crocodiles avoid as being destructive to their Eyes witness Pliny Neither of the Kidney Beans of Paludan Garet like the Cacao Nut whereof they make Chocolate named otherwise Coles by Clusius Nor will I treat of the purging Beans of Carthage or those of Ferdinand de Lopez of Castagneda which come from the Isle of St. Thomas I will speak for the present of a certain Bean of Arabia called Bon whereof they make a Drink termed Coffee which was heretofore in use amongst Arabians and Egyptians and which is now a dayes in very great request amongst the English French and Germanes The first that makes mention of the Property of this Bean under the name of Bunchum in the 9th Century after the Birth of our Saviour was Zachary Mahomet Rases commonly called Rhasio
sorts some put therein black Pepper or Tavases the which as being very hot and dry does not agree but with those whose Liver is very cold An eminent Doctor of Physick of the University of Mexico is of the same opinion who as likewise a certain Religious man worthy to be credited has assured me that it seeming to him that black pepper was not very proper in Chocolate to prove his opinion and to make manifest that the pepper of Mexico called Chile is far the better tryed this experiment in the Liver of a Sheep in half of which having put black pepper and in the other half pepper of Mexico in four and twenty hours he found that part wherein the black pepper was quite dryed up but the other that had the Mexico pepper moist and juicy as if nothing had been put therein The Receipt of our Physician of Merchena to make Chocolate is thus Take seven hundred Cacao Nuts a pound and a half of white Sugar two ounces ef Cinnamon fourteen grains of Mexico Pepper call'd Chile or Pimiento half an ounce of Cloves three little Straws or Vanilla's de Campeche or for want thereof as much Annis-seed aâ— will equal the weight of a shilling oâ— Achiot a smal quantity as big as a Filbeard which may be sufficient only to givâ— it a colour some add thereto Almondsâ— Filbeards and the Water of Orangâ— Flowers Touching this Receipt I affirm â—â—ist of all that by following this form â—ne cannot fit the infirmities of every â—an that is indisposed but we must 〈◊〉 thereto or take away according to the necessities and temperament of each one As for the Sugar though they put thereof when they drink the Chocolate I do not judge it inconveâ—â—ent to mingle therewith the quantity which I shall name The Ladies also and Gentlewomen of Mexico â—ake little delicate Cakes of Chocolate 〈◊〉 daintiness which are sold likewise in the Shops to be eaten just as Sweet-Meats The Cloves which the same Author uses in this composition are not allowed by those that well understand the manner of making this Drink grounded perhaps on this reason that they bind the belly though they have the property to correct the stinking breath and ill smell of the mouth as is shewn by a learned person in these Verses Faetorem emendant oris Carisophila faedum Constringunt ventrem primaque membra juvant that is to say that Cloves make a sweeâ— breath stop the loosness of the Bellyâ— and eases the stomack when it is troubled with a hard digestion And so these Cloves being astringent one ought not to make use of them altho' they be hot and dry in the third degree and though it aids the parts of Concoction as is shewed in those Verses Every body uses in this confection and puts therein certain little straws or as the Spaniards call them Vanillas de Campeche The Description of which I have not seen in any Author nor of the Plant which produces them they seem to have deduced their Name from a certain Town call'd Campeche which is in the Province of Yuâ—atan in New-Spain as likewise a kind of Brasil wood which they call the Wood of Campeche which the Dyers employ very much in their trade and of which there is great abundance brought into Europe They fetch it from the West Indies and are of an opinion that it is gathered from a litle shrub called Cucuraqua by the Tarasquains and Quammochetl Xuitzquahuitl by the Mexicans but this Wood has nothing of affinity with our Vanilla's which are used in making the Chocolate the which are very pleasant to the sight they have the smell as it were of Fennel and perhaps not much different in quality for all hold that they do not heat too much and do not hinder the adding Annis-seed as the Authour of Merchena seems to intimate in his Receit It being certain that they never make Chocolate without Annis-seed for being hot in the third degree it is very proper in many cold distempers and allays the coldness of the Cacao Nut and to the end that you may know for what cold Members it may be useful and necessary I will here repeat the Verses of a curious person Morbosos renes Vesicam guttura Vulvam Intestina jecur cumque liene caput Confortat variisque anisum subdita morbis Membra istud tantum vim leve semen habet Which in English is the Annis-seed through its soveraign Vertue cures the diseased and infected Kidneys the Throat the Bladder the Matrice the Members brought under and weakned with divers diseases so great is the force and power of that little inconsiderable Seed The Achiote is a certain dye or tincture drawn from a fruit-Tree which some call Achiotl others Changuarica and others Pamaqua take it as it is described by Francis Ximenes in the fifth book at the third Chapter it is says he a Tree in greatness body and shape very like the Orange Tree its Leaves are like those of the Elm in Colour and roughness its Bark Body and Branches are reddish drawing to a Green its flowers are large distinguished or divided into five Leaves in the shape of a Star of a whitish Purple Colour its fruit is like the outward Shell of a Chesnut of the form and bigness of a little green Almond Quadrangular or four Square which being ripe opens it self containing certain grains or Stoneâ— like those of the Raisins but much more round The Savages and Natives of the Country have it in great Esteem and Plant it near their houses 't is green all the year round and bears its Fruit in Spring time at which time they have a custome to lop it for out of its wood they Strike Fire as with a Flint-stone its bark is very proper to make Ropes which shall be stronger than that which is made of Hemp it self of its seed they make a Crimson red tincture which the Painters imploy in their Colours they make use of it also in Physick for being of a cold quality and being drunk with some Water of the same Nature or applyed to the outward parts allays the ardour and burning of the Feaver hinders the Dysenterie or griping of the Guts lastly they mix it with great profit and success in all the cooling potions whence it happens that they mix it with the drink of Chocolate to cool and to give it a taste and fine colour sed haec obiter Now this Achiote in the quantity of a Nut is not sufficient to Colour so great a quantity of ingredients contained in the receit that must be left to the Judgement of him that composes this confection who shall use as much as he shall think sufficient to give it a good Colour It is no small good to add thereto Almonds Here our Author speaking of Almonds means those of the Indies and not our European ones the description of which we will give you as Ioseph Acosta has it in his Natural History Book 39. Chap. 26. Of Indian
a very famous Arabian Physician who has composed a great many excellent Books to wit Ten dedicated to King Almansor and Fifteen other learned Works He was the first that did explain what was the meaning of Bunchum assuring us that it is hot and dry very good for the Stomach it hinders the unpleasant smell of Sweat and of depilatory Oyntments After Rases divers other Physicians and particularly Avicenne explains Bon under the name of Bunchum As to the choice thereof he says that of a Lemmon colour light and of a good smell is the best that the white and the heavy is naught that it is hot and dry in the first degree and according to others cold in the first degree As to its operations and effects it fortifies the members it cleans the skin and dries up the humidities that are under it and it gives an excellent smell to all the Body Prosper Alpinus in his Book of the Medicines and Plants of Egypt throughly describes the Bean Bon and the Drink they make thereof For he sayes the Grain Bon is in great use among the Egyptians of which they prepare a decoction whereof they drink in their Country just the same as we do the wine in our Taverns And tho they drink it all day long yet their manner is alwayes to take a large quantity thereof in the morning fasting as hot as they can well indure it it being the general opinion amongst them that it warms and corroborates the Stomach and that it is a powerful remedy to cure all the obstructions of the Bowels It is an excellent Remedy against the stoppage of Womens Courses and they make often use thereof when they don't flow so fast as they desire they sip a great deal of it as hot as they can drink it alwayes taking care to drink it by little and little for it is the Custome of every one to drink it after that manner He proceeds further in it saying that the drink called Coffee is much esteem'd of in those Countries the which they prepare with certain black Grains which come very near to Beans This decoction they make two ways the one with the skin or the outside of the aforesaid Grain and the other with the very substance of the Bean. That which is made of the skin is of more force then the other that 's made with the Bean it self I have seen the Tree whereon it grows in the Orchard of a Turkish Commander who had caused it to be transplanted out of Arabia it very much resembles the Plant called Priests Bonnet The quality of this Drink is cold and dry or rather temperate in respect of cold by reason of some heat which is found mingled therewith For this grain is composed of two different substances to wit the one gross and terren whereby it strengthens and corroborates and the other is thought to be made up of warm parts by which it heats cleanses and opens This decoction has a taste not much different from that of Succory tho it has a greater power to remove all obstructions Having then took notice that the Women in the beginning of their courses to help evacuations drink of it by little and little a great quantity very hot and in that time make great use of this Drink Assisted and with this experience I begun to employ it for all women whatsoever who by some cause or other have their purgations ceas'd or diminished the which I have seen experimented by very many with good success and thence I have learned that this sort of Medicine was excellent for the stopping of Womens courses which proceeds from the obstructions of the veins in the Matrice having before hand provided for the purging of the body This Drink took in the morning fasting mightily provokes the Courses and it is a quick and certain remedy for those Women who not having their courses are troubled with violent pains They prepare this decoction taking a pound and a half of the Kernels of this Grain peeling off the skin they roast it before the fire and having roasted or parched it they boyl it in twenty pintes of water Others take the Grain roasted or parched and beat to powder and let it lie steept in water a whole day and without any other infusion they boyl it half a way and having strain'd it they keep it in earthen pots stopt close to make use thereof when they shall want it They prepare this drink after the same fashion with the Bark of the aforesaid Grain which nevertheless they take in a less quantity viz. some only six ounces others nine with twenty pintes of Fountain water which they boyl half away This Drink the Arabians call Caova the Berries as I said before grow on a Tree much like our Priests Bonnet tho the leaves are thicker harder and greener and besides they are green all the year round They use this decoction to fortifie the stomach when it is too cold and to help digestion as also to remove the obstructions of the entrails they make use of it several days with good success in the cold swellings of the Liver and the Spleen Avieenne mentions these Grains and attributes the same use to them esteeming them to be hot in the third degree and dry in the second which does not seem likely since it has a sweet with a kind of bitterness without any sharpness or acrimony We must now particularize the preparation of this Drink made with Coffee t is true I have spoken something hereof before but in general now I will proceed to the particulars The Coffee Tree The Instrument I have here explained in general the Virtues of that wholesome drink called Coffee tho it will not be altogether unnecessary to relate what an eminent Arabian Physician speaks thereof who more particularly declares these things that follow The fruit Bon says he is gathered in the Month Ab which being took out of its shell is divided into two parts its Flowers are whitish this Bean is hot in the first degree and dry in the second that is to say its Skin as to the kirnel it is altogether temperate nevertheless it dries but moderately and plesantly Its drink is good against Catharrs and Rheums which trouble the Breast In the stoppage of Womens courses and Urine against the boyling of the blood and the decaying of the strength 't is very necessary This drink has got the same esteem in Denmark and Sweden In which Countries the great Lords make use of it frequently And especially at Paris there are a great many Shops that sell Coffee publickly with this following commendation The most excellent Virtues of the Berry called Coffee COffee is a Berry which only grows in the desert of Arabia from whence it is transported into all the Dominions of the Grand Seigniour which being drunk dries up all the cold and moist humours disperses the wind fortifies the Liver eases the dropsie by its purifying quality 't is a Sovereign
Almonds There is another kind of Cacao's which have in their Shell a number of small nuts like Almonds of the shape of the Pomegranate grains 〈◊〉 these Almonds are three times as big as those of Castile and resemble them in taste altho they are a little more rough and are also humide moist and oyly 't is a reasonable good food they do also use it in Sweet meats for want of Almonds to make March-panes and other such like things they call them Almonds of the Andes because these Cacao's grow abundant on the high Mountains call'd the Andes in Peru and they are so hard and strong that to open them they are wont to strike them with a huge Stone with all their force when they fall from the Tree if they meet with the head of any one they will hinder his journey from going further And it seems to be a thing incredible that in the crevises or hollow of these Cacao's which are not bigger or but little more than the others there should be such a vast number and quantity of those Almonds but concerning these Almonds both these and all the other Fruits in like manner must give place to the Almonds de Chachapoyas the which I know not how otherwise to name This Fruit is the most wholsome delicate and dainty of all that I ever saw in the Indies Even a Learned Physitian assured me that amongst all the fruits which are found either in the Indies or in Spain none came near the excellence of these Almonds There be some of these that be bigger others less then those of the Andes yet all of them are bigger than them of Castilâ—e They are very tender have very much substance and juyce very oyly and very agreeable to the taste they grow upon high tall Trees very thick of leaves and as it is a precious thing Nature has bestowed on it a coverture and defence almost impregnable it has a Skin or Shell something bigger and more pointed then that of a Chesnut nevertheless when this is dry they get the Kernel out very easily They report that the Apes which are very greedy and desirous of this fruit of which Creature the Country of Chachapoyas in Peru does greatly abound which is the only Country I know of that has this sort of Tree who to break the Shell and to get the Almond from thence they strongly throw it from the tops of the boughs upon the stones and so having broken it they make an end of eating it at their pleasure The Filbeards also are far better than the Maiz or Panis which some are wont to put therein to give a better body and strength to the Composition and therefore I would use them in all sorts of Chocolate for besides all the commodities and advantages which I have here before counted they are moderately hot and have a delicate juice especially the dry ones the green and the new being in no wise proper but rather hurtful according as a Learned man has expressed in these Verses Dat modicum calidum dulcisque amygdala succum Et tenuem inducant plurima damna novae Then the Filberts are not unnecessary Christopher Acosta in his book Of Spices Chap. 18. describes the Indian Filberts after this manner The Tree is a very great Tree strait smooth round and of a spungy matter or substance its leaves are longer and larger then that of the Palm Tree which bears the Cacao's and which bud out of the very top of the Tree amongst which there spring out little smooth branches full of small white flowers and almost without any smell whence proceeds the fruit called Areca as big as Wallnuts yet not altogether round but Oval in the form or shape of a little Pullets egg the outward Skin is wonderfully green before it becomes ripe being ripe it becomes very yellow like Dates that are fully ripe this Skin or Shell is of a soft and Shaggy substance which contains a Kernel as big as a large Chesnut white hard and full of little red Veins which the inhabitants eat being yet green they put it under the Sand to render it better and more agreeable to the taste sometimes they eat it mixt with the leaves of Bethel other times they break it and dry it in the Sun and afterwards make great use thereof in their eating and in their astringent potions with the Skin they clean their Teeth There is another kind of Filbert which grows in the Isle of St. Dominico which is purgative but this is not that they mix with the Chocolate These Filherts therefore I say are not altogether unuseful since that they have the same temperament or Nature with the Almonds though being dryer they come more near to a Chollerick temperament but they have also this good they corroborate the Stomach and Belly being well dryed before the fire and as it were broyled as they Prepare it for this composition moreover they hinder the fumes of the Stomach from rising up into the Brains as the same Author writes Bilis Avellanam sequitur sed roborat alvum Ventris a fâ—mis liberat assa caput That is to say the Filbert engenders melancholly humours but it strenghens the weak Stomach and being well rosted allays and depresses those fumes which would otherwise disturb the brains and it is therefore very necessary for those that are troubled with Windiness and Fumes which from the Spleen rise up into the brain and fill the head with turbulent dreams and frightful imaginations Those that mix Maiz or Panich in the Châ—colate do very ill for they beget bilious and melancholy humours as is evident from the said Author Crassa Melancholicum praestant tibi panica succum Siccant si ponas membra gelantque foris It is very certain that both the one and the other begets Choler and Windyness and that they do not make use of this ingredient but for their own profit and to augment the quantity of the Chocolate each bushel of Maiz costing them but eight Shillings bringing each pound to four Shillings which is the true price of the Chocolate This which the Indians call Maiz we call Indian or Turky-Wheat which being so common amongst us there is no need to treat thereof any further yet I cannot forbear to mention that of Francis Ximenes in his third Book Chap. 7. who seems to contradict our Author speaking of it very advantagiously in these terms The difference of the Maiz is in the Colour of its ears which the Vulgar call Mazercas of which there is a greet difference for some are of a white Colour others red there be some that are almost black others purple blew and diversified or sprinkled with divers Colours which is to be understood of the upper skin for the flower of each is white as to the rest if there be any Corn that God has made of a temperate quality and great nourishment without doubt it is the Maiz which the Mexicans call Theolli for it
old as if it were but just made Therefore to conclude this Second Part we must acknowledge that the Chocolate is not so cold as the Cacao nor is it so hot as the other ingredients but from the action and reaction thereof there proceeds a moderate complexion or temper which may agree with and serve as well for the stomachs that be cold as those that are hot provided it be took in an indifferent quantity as I will shew you by and by and that it has been made a whole month as is said before so that I know not any one who having experimented this confection made as it is convenient for every individual can speak ill thereof or in any wise discommend it besides that all the world generally using it there is scarce any one that does not highly approve of it through all Europe as well as in the Indies I know not therefore what reason any one has to say that Chocolate causes obstructions for if it should be so and the Liver become obstructed it would bring a leanness on all the Body but experience teaches us the contrary for we see nothing fattens more than Chocolate whereof I will give the reason hereafter and so much for this Second Part. Proceed we now to the Third THE THIRD PART IN the First Part having treated of Chocolate and given you the definition thereof as likewise the quality of the Cacao and the other ingredients And in the Second of the temperament or complexion which results from the mixture of the said ingredient In this third Part it remains to shew you how they mix it But first I judge it not unnecessary to give you the best receipt thereof and the most convenient I could find and tho I have said before that it is impossible to give a Receipt that may be proper and agreeable to all sort of Persons but that is meant for those that are distempered and not well in health for to those that are in good health this here is most fit and convenient but for the others as I have shewed at the end of the First part each one may choose the ingredients according as they shall be most needful to one or other distempered part of his body This therefore is the Receipt With each hundred of Cacao's you must mingle two grains of Chile or Pepper of Mexico of those great Grains which we have elsewhere told you are called Chilpatlagua and for want of them they use to take two Indian Pepper corns the largest and the least hot that you can find or if you can get them the Pimiento's of Spain an handful of Annis-seed two of those Flowers called Xuchinachutzli or little ears and two others named Mecasuchil if there be need to loosen the Belly In Spain instead of these last they are wont to use the powder of six Roses of Alexandria vulgarly called pale Roses a little Bean Cod or Vanilla de Campeche two drams of Cinnamon a dozen of Almonds and as many Filberts half a pound of Sugar such a quantity of Achiote as shall be sufficieut to colour the whole composition The way of making Chocolate The Cacao and the other ingredients are pounded and beaten on a Stone which the Indians call Metatl made for that purpose The first thing they begin to do is to broyl well and carefully to dry before the fire all the ingredients except the Achiote to the end that they may be easily pounded and broken but in the broyling of them before the fire there must be great heed taken that they be often turned and stirr'd about for fear of burning or becoming black besides which they being too much done lose their vertue and receive a bitter taste The Cinnamon and the Pepper of Mexico ought to be first pounded and the latter of them should be beaten together with the Annis-seed The Cacao is that which is to be last of all beaten but by little and little till you think there is so much as may be sufficient for your purpose and every time you must give it three or four turns in the Mortar You must also take care that every one is beaten severally and by it self having beaten all these ingredients to a fine powder you put them altogether in a Vessel where the Cacao is and these powders they stir and mix with a spoon and presently they take of this past which they begin again to pound in Mortar or rather if they have it the forementioned Stone under which they make a gentle fire taking special heed that they do not make it too grâ—at and too quick nor that you heat it too much for fear of scattering and dâ—ssipating the buttery parts You must also take notice that in pounding the Cacao you mix the Achiote therewith to the end that you may give it a better colour and the tincture may remain and be the better implanted therein The Powder of each ingredient except that only of the Cacao must be well sifted and if you peel the Cacao and take it out of its little shell the drink thereof will be more dainty and delicious Then when all shall seem to be well mixed and incorporated the which you may easily know if you find it without the least straw or lump you shall take with a spoon of this mass which will be almost all melted and dissolved whereof they make little Cakes and and put into boxes which by that time it is cold will become hard and firm You must observe nevertheless that to make these Cakes they throw a spoonful of the Liquor on some paper or as in the Indies on some great leaves like those of the Plane-Tree our Author means here the Indian plane-tree and not that of Europe for the Platanus of the Indies was so named by the Spaniards for reasons that are unknown to us for it has no resemblance with our Plane-tree but it is rather like the Palm tree as well in shape as in the bigness of the leaves which are so large that they cover a man from head to foot T is also observable that these leaves serve for the same use as paper with us But to the purpose two or three spoonfuls being thus put on one of these leaves and set in the shade do soon grow hard and afterwards folding or doubling the paper those Cakes as being very fat are easily separated from the paper But if you should pour it into some earthen Vessel or on some board it is not easie to unfasten those Cakes or get them off whole They drink this liâ—uor in the Indies two wayes of which the first and most ordinary is to take it hot with Atholle an ancient Drink of the Indians who call by this name a Drink made of the flower of Maiz well steept in Water and boyl'd to a clear Liquor or rather like starch but there be other different sorts thereof which are excellently well described by Laet in his 7th Book Chap. 3. which the
attenuates the thick and slow humours and is an excellent Medicine and Antidote against poison it s other vertues as likewise the figure of its fruit are more fully set out by Iean Eusebe Book 14. chap. 62. Another ingredient is the Vinacaxtli but here I fear mine Author may be deceived or that there has been a mistake in the Printing and instead of Vinacaxtli he should have put Huclimacutzli which is a Tree the flower whereof is called by the Spaniards Flor de la Oreja or Flower of the ear because of its near resemblance with the ear It is composed sayes Laet lib. 5. cap. 4. of purple Flowers within and green without it is of a very sweet and pleasant smell the name Xuchinacutzli in our Language signifies little ears which are flowers odoriferous aromatick and hot The Mecasuchil is purgative and the Indians make thereof a purging Syrup Those that live in Europe for went of Mecasuchil may put therein powder of Roses of Alexandria for those that have a mind to loosen their belly There be two other ingredients of which our Author being silent we are forc'd to supply his defect the one is the flower of a certain pitchy or rosi'ny tree which yeilds a gum like that of the Storax but of a finer colour its flower is like that of the Orange tree of a good smell which they mix with the Chocolate and repute it good for the stomack the other ingredient is the shale or cod of the Tlixochitl which is a creeping herb having leaves like the Plantane but longer and thick it climbs up to the top of the trees and intwines it self with them and bears a shale long strait and as it were round which smells of the balm of new Spain they mix this shale with their famous drink of Cacao their pith is black full of little seeds like that of the poppy they say that two of these steept in water provoke urine wonderfully See Laet Book 5. ch 7. I have reported all these ingredients to the end that those that have need may choose those which they shall think most useful for the Distempers wherewith they are molested THE SECOND PART IN this Second Part we must observe that though they mix with the Cacao all these hot ingredients yet for all that the quantity of the Cacao is greater than all the rest so that the others serve only to allay and temperate the coldness of the Cacao so that of two medicaments of contrary qualities we artificially compose one which is temperate and moderate just so by the action and reaction of the cold parts of the Cacao the Chocolate receives a temperate and moderate quality very little different from a mediocrity or mean between both and when we shall venter to say that in leaving out of the Chocolate both pepper and cloves and only putting therein a little annis-feed as we will shew hereafter it is purely temperate we are able to prove it both by experience and reason First by experience supposing that which Galen says That every temperate Medicament heats that which is cold and cools that which is hot giving for example the Oyl of Roses with experience I say grounded on the practice and custom which they have amongst them in the Indies for I coming very much heated to visit one of my Patients when I desired some water of them to cool my self they advised me to take a Dish of Chocolate with which I quenched my thirst but taking it the next morning fasting it heated me and fortified my Stomack Now let us prove this opinion by reason we have before demonstrated that all the parts of the Cacao were not cold for we have shew'd that the buttery and oyly parts which are in great number are hot or at least temperate Then although it be true that the quantity of the Cacao put into the Chocolate is greater and stronger than all the other ingredients together the cold parts which correspond therewith do not amount at furthest but to the moyety and so that altho all together come to surpass it seeing that it remains somthing allayed by the grinding or rubbing together by the means of the hot and buttery parts of the Cacao and again on the otherside by the other ingredients that are hot in the second and third degree it must needs be reduced to a mediocrity Just as we see in two persons that joyn their hands together whereof the hands of the one are cold and the others hot those that are hot grow cold and the cold hot and finally both the one and the other remain without that excess of heat or cold which they had before and at last become temperate Like this does it happen to those that wrastle at first they have their Forces strong and entire but at last by the action and reaction of the two adversaries striving together they enfeeble and weaken themselves so that the wrastling being ended they remain weakned both the one and the other 'T is the opinion of Aristotle in the fourth Book Of the generation of Animals Chap. 3. He says that every Agent suffers as the Patient so that we see that which cuts is blunted by the thing that is cut that that which heats is cooled and that which pusheth or thrusteth is in some manner thrust back and repulsed Hence I gather that it is better to make use of the Chocolate sometime after it has been made than to take of it whilst new and fresh but you must let it stand at the least a whole month together for I judge so long time to be necessary and very expedient to the end that the contrary qualities may weaken and spend themselves and be reduced to a convenient temperament and mediocrity for it might happen that in the beginning each contrary would impress and work its effect and nature cannot endure to be heated and cooled at the same time That is therefore the Reason that Galen in his Twelfth Book of the Method advises us to tarry a whole year or at least six months before we make use of the Philonium because in its composition there is put the juyce of Poppies called Opium which is cold in the fourth degree and Pepper with other ingredients that are hot in the third degree And this doctrine is confirmed by the practice of several learned Physicians whom I have desired to inform me which was the best Chocolate they presently answered me that which has been kept several months and the fresh and newly made Chocolate did do them a great deal of hurt and did very much loosen and relax their Stomach which in my opinion is very probable for the fat and buttery parts are not altogether corrected by the earthy parts of the Cacao which I will prove by the reason I shall bring hereafter that if you should take a dish of Chocolate to drink that which is thick and buttery thereof separates it self from the rest and relaxes the Stomach although it be