curious may consult at their leasure That discourse being too great a digression to be here inserted With this Liquor the Indians mix their Chocolate and to make it more wholsom they clear the Maiz by taking away the upper skin which is Windy and begets melancholick humours and so there remains the best and most substantial thereof Return we now to the second manner of taking it which is the modern and has been introduced since the Spaniards have made use of this Chocolate the which is also two fold The first is to steep or dissolve the Chocolate in cold Water and to take off the scum which they put into another dish then to set the remainder over the fire putting therein as much Sugar as you shall judge convenient to sweeten it and lastly it being hot and having mixed the Scum therewith which you had set apart you may drink it Before I give you the other way of making this Liquor 't will not be amiss to describe the Cup or Goblet wherein they drink the Chocolate made of Xicara or Coco which the Mexicans call Tecomates They also make them of the fruit of a certain Tree call'd by the Spaniards Higuero the Tree is very big which bears leaves in shape and largeness like to our Mulberry Tree and has a fruit like the gourd whereof the Savages make Cups to drink their Chocolate as to the Palms which bear these Coco's I have nothing to say to them which yet are one of the stupendious Miracles of Nature I shall only take notice with the Learned Doctor Paludanus in his remark on the Voyage of Linschot that the Coco is covered with two barks the first whereof is rough and hairy of which they make the Cables and Cordage of a Ship of the next Shell they make these Cups the common opinion being that these Cups have an innate vertue of which the Chocolate being put therein participates against the Apoplexy Sed haec o biter To the purpose therefore The Second way of preparing this liquor is to heat the water puting into this forementioned Cup as much Chocolate as is thereto necessary and withal a little water then working the Chocolate and incorporating it till it be well mixt and dissolv'd all in the Cup put the rest of your hot water with some Sugar therein and so drink it Thus in Spain But we in England usually boyl the Chocolate with the water and some to make it more dainty though less wholesome use therein Eggs and Milk There is yet another way something different from this former for they boyl both the Chocolate and water together till there swims at top a fat buttery substance taking care that there is not too great a fire to make it boyl over But this way I do in no wise approve of for the fat separating it self from the earthy parts this sinks to the bottom and the other keeps at top so that being thus drunk the first loosens the stomack and takes away the appetite and the latter causes melancholy c. There is another way of making this drink of Chocolate which is cold which takes its name from its principal ingredient and is therefore called Chocolate whereof they take to refresh themselves and is made after this manner They steep the Chocolate powder'd into a little water working it well with the little Mill whence they abstract a very large scum which is so much the more augmented by how much the Cacao is more old and rotten this scum they put into a dish a part mixing therewith a sufficient quantity of Sugar which done they set it up for their use and drink it cold when they find they have need thereof but it is to be understood that they do not take this sort in Winter but in the greatest heat of Summer yet thus prepared it is so extraordinary cooling that it does not agree with all stomachs for experience shews the ill thereof it causing distempers in the stomach and cheifly to Women I would here give you the cause and reason thereof but I shall omit it that I may not seem too prolix and to trespass on the Readers patience There is also another way of drinking it cold which so prepared is call'd Cacao Pinoli it is made in adding to the same Chocolate after having made the confection as we have shewed an equal quantity of Maiz parcht and pounded but first well cleared of its skin the which being beaten in the Mortar with the Chocolate becomes a powder and mingles it self with the other and of the powders managed as we shewed just before arises a Scum which they also take and use as the precedent drink There is yet another shorter then the former 'T is the same with ours and therefore more fit for men of business who have not the leasure to attend a longer preparation the which is very wholesom and 't is that I make use of my self whilst you set on the water to boyl you must take a Cake of Chocolate which you may either pound in the Mortar or rather grate it to a fine powder mixing it with some Sugar in a little pot the water being hot you must pour the Chocolate therein then taking it from the fire work it well with your little Mill and for want of that brew it a score times out of one pot into another which yet does not so well incorporate it as the Mill this being done let it be drunk without separating from it the scum as is usual in the aforesaid preparations THE FOURTH PART IN this last part it remains to shew you in what quantity the Chocolate is to be drunk in what time we must make use thereof and to what persons 'tis most proper and agreeable for some using it too excessively I do not mean only Chocolate but also all sorts of food and Liquors how good and excellent soever the things are in thier own Nature do thence receive great incommodities and mischiefs and if some persons do complain that it causes obstructions 't is by reason of the excessive use thereof just so we see Wine which if excessively drunk instead of heating breeds oftentimes cold Distempers Nature not being able to surmount nor turn in its substance so great a quantity thereof so likewise those that drink too much Chocolate since that it has several fat parts which cannot disperse themselves in the same quantity through all the body it must necessarily follow that obstructions are caused by those which remain in the little Veins of the Liver which may be remedied if a Man will content himself with five or six ounces only of Chocolate in the Winter time and if he that takes thereof is bilious and subject to melancholly instead of drinking it with common Water let him use therewith Endive water the same thing is to be done in the Summer by those that would take it as a Medicine against the obstructions and hot Distempers of the Liver but he that
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
grows in Arabia near Mecca in such abundance that it is transported into all Asia and almost all the places where there be Mahometans who make use of this drink instead of Wine whereas it sufficiently imitates the effects having the property to fortifie the stomach and to make easie the digestion and to purifie the vapours of the Head They roast this Bean in a pan afterward they pound it in a Mortas after having separated the bran by a fine Sieve they boyl this black and burnt powder in water a little while then they drink it as hot as they can though this Liqour has not an agreable taste but rather bitter yet it is much esteem'd of by these people for the good effects they find therein which manifests the care God has to furnish all Countryes with the necessary things for the advantage of men and there is no doubt but that there be other plants in other Countries which have the like virtues The end of Coffee A NEW RELATION OF THE USE AND VERTUE OF TEA LONDON Printed for W. Crook at the Sign of the Green Dragon without Temple-Bar 1685. OF THE USE OF TEA AS I never yet met with any particular Discourse of Tea I am not able to afford to the Curious any other than these following remarks which though they are very concise yet are large enough to discover the miraculous qualities which the Divine Providence has imparted to this leaf in the cure of several indispositions which become but too often the subject of our griefs The Author of the Book intituled the Embassy of the Vnited Provinces to the Emperour of China Printed at Leyden in the year 1655. in the Description which he makes of the Empire Speaks thus of Tea The most excellent leaves of Cha or Tea are found in the Provinces of Kiangnon and specially near the City Hoeicheu this leaf is little and the Tree thereof is very like the shrub call'd by Pliny Rhus Coriarius or Curriers Sumack I do almost beleive that this is a kind of the same however it is not a wild shrub but a garden Plant and further 't is no tree but a shrub which spreads it self into divers little branches and pleasant boughs Its flowers come very near to that of Sumack only this of Cha inclines more to a yellow it puts forth its first flower in Summer which does not give much scent and its green berry becomes blackish its branches are cover'd with white and yellow flowers jagg'd and pick'd from top to bottom To make this drink of Cha so much esteem'd by the Indians they only look for the first leaf which comes forth in Spring which also is the most soft and delicate they gather it with great care the one after to'ther and separately afterwards they presently heat it a little while and softly on a gentle fire and wrap it in a very fine thin and smooth piece of Calico often stirring and rubbing it with the hands then they set it on the fire again being also wrapt up and turn'd and rub it the second time till it curls up together and becomes quite dry after which they pour it into tin boxes sealing and stopping it very close for fear the Spirits and the too subtil quallity should evaporate for after you have kept it a long while if you put it into boyling water it will retake its former verdure extending and spreading forth it self if it be good it leaves behind it in the Water a smell and taste very agreeable to the palate and withal a greenish colour The Chinese praise it wonderfully and set a great value on the vertues and qualities of this drink for they use it Night and day and present it as a great rarity to those they would regal Now there be so many several sorts and 't is so different both of price and goodness that there is some a pound whereof is worth an hundred Franks and more another sort you may have for ten or a dozen Crowns others for two nay some so cheap that will cost but two farthings a pound It has at the least this good quality to hinder the Gout and the Gravel in the kidneys if you drink of it after meals it takes away all indigestions and crudities of the Stomach above all it helps and facilitates digestion more especially it disintoxicates those that are fuddl'd giving them new forces and enabling them to go to it again because it eases the burden of those inconveniences which this brutal excess brings along with it by reason that it dries and cleanses all the superfluous and peccant humours and that 〈◊〉 disperses the vapours which cause sleep and overcome a man when he desires to be waking The Chineses have given it divers names according to the diversity of the places where it grew and from its innate virtues as that of Hoeicheu is the best so they have named it SLUNGOCHA and sell it some times for 150 Franks the pound It has a blackish seed which falling to the ground takes root and at the end of three years produces pritty little shrubs about the height of our goosberry bushes or Rose-trees whereof they gather every year a very considerable crop the snow and the hail not being able though never so rigorous to do them any hurt so that I am perswaded one might easily improve this plant in the Soil of Europe if its grain were sowed in some shady and fertill place The Iapeneses prepare this drink quite after an other sort than the Chineses do for of its leaves they make a powder which they drink with hot water but the Chineses drink the boyling water in the which thâ—se leaves have been strayned and whereto they have contributed all their goodness Monsieur de Bourges in the Relation which I have allready instanced of the Voyage of the Bishop of Beryte to Cochinchina speaks thus During our abode at Siam after our dinner which was usually of fish we drank some Tea which they take very hot with a little sugar we found it very wholsom and comparing the effects of this Tea with those of wine especially as they use it in this Country where the Stomach is weakned by the extream heat and its force is oppressed by the quality of the nourishment it is doubtfull which of these two may obtain the pre-eminence if not this leaf the use whereof is grown so common in those Countries it having many excellent properties the chief of which is to make one that is drunk become sober Wherein 't is very different from all other liqours whereof men make use which being drunk with excess either weaken or quite deprive them of their understanding whereas Tea fortifies and frees them from the vapours which hinder its effects In the several Voyages of Father Alexander of Rhodes the thirteenth Chapter is wholly taken up in treating of Tea and reflecting on the advantages of the People of China He says One of the things which in my
opinion do very much contribute to the great health of this people which oftentimes appears to the very last in their old age is Tea whose use is exceeding common through all the East and begins to be known in some Countrys of Europe by the means of the Hollanders who bring it from China and sell it at Paris for thirty Franks the pound which they buy in this Country for eight pence or ten pence and yet I perceive that it is commonly very old and naughty 'T is thus that the French and English suffer strangers to enrich themselves in the East-India trade whence they might draw all the best commodities of the world if they had but the courage to undertake it as well as their neighbours who have less means to prosper therein then our own Country-men Tea is a leaf as big as that of our Pomegranate tree it grows on little shrubs very much resembling the Myrtle Tree it is not to be purchased in any Country of the World but only in two Provinces of China where it grows one whereof is called Nanquin whence comes the best Tea which they name Cha the other is the Province of Chincheau in these two Provinces there is as much care taken in the Crop of this leaf as there is in our Vintages It grows here in so great abundance that they have enough thereof to furnish the rest of China Iapan Tunquin Cochinchina and several other Kingdoms where they so ordinarily make use of Tea that those who drink it but three times a day are the most moderate others take of it ten or twelve times a day or to say better every hour When this leaf is cropt they dry it well in an Oven then they put it into tin boxes which must be well shut for if it takes wind 't is spoiled and has no more strength then dead leven I leave to you to judge if the Hollanders take great care of that they sell into France To know if the Tea be good you must see that it be very Green bitter and so dry as to be easily broken with the Finger if it is all thus 't is good otherwise assure your self it is not worth much The fashion of the Chineses when they make use of this Tea is to boyl some Water in a little pot very clean when it boyls well they take it from the fire and put therein so many leaves according to the proportion of Water that is to say into a good large glass of Water they put about an Ounce of Tea they Cover the pot well and when the leaf sinks to the bottom of the Water then is the time to drink it for 't is then that the Tea Communicates its vertue to the Water giving it a reddish dye they drink it as hot as they can for if it should cool it would be good for nothing the same leaf which tarries at the Bottom of the pot will serve a second or third time but then they boyl it with the water The Iapeneses take it another way for they first beat the Tea to powder then they put it into boyling water and swallow it all together I know not whether this way of taking it be more wholsom then the former I have made use of and always found that way of the Chineses to be exceeding good both of them mingle a little sugar therewith to correct the bitterness of the Tea which nevertheless methinks is not so very unpleasant There be three principal vertues in Tea the first of which is to cure and to hinder the pains of the head for my part when I had the Megrime in taking of this Tea I found my self so very much eased and comforted that it drew out all the pain of my head for the principal force of Tea is to abate and expell those gross vapours which ascending from the Stomach into the head do very much incommode us If you take it after supper it commonly hinders sleep yet there be some who by drinking of Tea sleeps the better because allaying none but the most foggy vapours it leaves behind it those that do cheifly cause sleep For my part I have experimented it often enough when I have been compelled to sit up all night about some extraordinary business I needed to do no more but to take some of this Tea when I perceived my self beginning to sleep and I could easily watch all night without winking and the next morning I was as fresh as if I had slept my ordinary time this I could do once a week without any trouble I tried one time to continue waking six nights together But the last night I found my self quite spent Tea is not only good for the head but it has a marvellous force in easing the Stomach and helping digestion they drink it also ordinarily after dinner after supper not at all especially those that would sleep The third thing for which Tea is good is to purge the reins of the Gout and Gravell and 't is perhaps the true reason why these diseases are unknown in those Countries I have the more enlarged my self on this discourse of Tea for since my abode in France I have had the honour to see some persons of great quality and of an illustrious merit and upon whose lifes and healths the safety of France does almost depend who make use thereof with good success and who have had the goodness to command me to teach them the nature and quality of this Drug the knowledge whereof I have gained by a thirty years experience Nicholas Tulpius Physitian of Amsterdam in his Book of medicinal observations speaks thus There is nothing more ordinary in the East Indies than the drink which is made of the decoction of a certain Plant called by the Chineses Tea by the Iapaneses Tchia whereof I shall make no difficulty to communicate to Posterity all the knowledge that has been imparted to me by those who hold the Soveraign authority in these Countries As therefore the abovesaid Plant has leaves long picked and jagged round about so on the other side its root is full of strings and divided into two little partitions and does not grow only in China and Iapan but also in Chiam or Siam moreover there is this difference the leaves of China are of a dark green something inclining to a black but those of Iapan are of a more pale and whitish green and of a more pleasant taste which is the very reason why the Tchia of Iapan is much more esteemed than the Tea of China so that it often happens that one only â—ound of Tchia is sold for 100. French Livres And indeed 't is the common vogue and opinion of this Country that there is nothing more Soveraign then this plant as well for the prolonging of our days even to an extream old age as for dissipating all that may be an hindrance or obstacle to our health and that it not only renders the body more vigorous and
is thus They burn the skin or Kernel of this fruit as it best pleases their fancy or palate and they beat it to a powder very fine of a blackish Colour which is not very pleasant to the eye-sight this Powder will keep a long time and is always to be found in the Drugsters Shops When they would drink thereof they boyl it in Water in certain pots made on purpose having a long and slender pipe to pour it readily into the little Porringers and when the Water has boiled enough they put therein such a quantity of this powder according to the number of people that are to drink of it they let this powder boyl with the Water sometime until it shaâ— have lost its bitter taste which it wouâ—â— always keep without a perfect boyling Afterwards they pour out this Liqour to be drunk as hot as the Moath and Throat can endure it not suffering themselves to swallow it but by little and little and at several times because of its actual heat and after it has taken the taste and colour of this powder whereof the thick sinks down and remains at the bottom of the Pot to make use of it more deliciously they mingle with this powder of Cahue much Sugar Cinnamon and Cloves well beaten which gives it an exquisite taste and makes it much more nourishing But yet without these dainties this drink it agreeable enough to the taste with the powder of Cahue alone and if you will believe them it contributes notably to the health helping digestion fortifying the Stomach stopping Rheums and Catharrs These are very good qualities if they be effectual They also say that after Supper it hinders drowsiness and for that reason those that would study by Night do then drink thereof There is sold here by retail so great a quantity of it that they say theâ— impost upon Cahue amounts to a considerable sum to the Grand Seignours profit When I return I will bring some of it with me and I will impart the Knowledge of this simple to the Italians which perhaps at present is altogether unknown to them If they should drink it with Wine as they do with Water I durst say it would be the Nepenthe that Homer mentions which Helen drunk there it being for certain that Cahue is brought hither from that Country And as this Nepenthe was a charm against cares and vexations the same Cahue to this day is used amongst the Turks as an entertainment and past-time making the hours to slip away merrily in conversation intermingling with their drink several pleasant and recreative discourses which unawares brings upon their mind this forgetfulness of sorrows which the Poet attributes to his Nepenthe Thevenot in a Relation which he has published of a Voyage into the Levant set a particular Chapter apart which he imployes in describing the Victuals Drink and Lodging of the Turks and after having mentioned their other Liqours speaks thus The Turks have another drink very common amongst them which they call Cahue whereof they make use every hour in the day This drink is made of a grain whereof we will speak by and by They roast it in a pan or any other utensil upon the fire afterward they peel it and beat it into powder very fine and when they would drink thereof they take a brazen pot made purposely which they call Ibrik and having fill'd it with water thy boyl it and when it boyls they put of this powder therein for about two cups of water one spoonfull and when that is boyled they take it quickly from the fire or remove it otherwise it would boyl over for it rises quickly when it has thus had ten or twelve boylings they pour it into little dishes of Porcelain set in rank on a Trencher of painted wood they bring it you boyling hot and it must be so drunk but at several times otherwise it is not good This Liqour is black and bitter and smells a little of the burnt too every one drinks it by little and little for fear of scalding their mouths so that being in a Cavehane for so they name the places where 't is sold ready made one may receive a kind of musick and divertisement by hearing the noise that every one makes in sipping This drink is good to hinder the fumes which rise from the stomach into the head and by consequence to cure the indisposition thereof and for the same reason 't is good against sleeping When our French Merchants have a great many Letters to write and intend to labour all night they take in the evening a dish or two of this Cahue it is good also to comfort the stomach and help disgestion in a word if you will beleive the Turks 't is good against all indispositions whatever and assuredly it has at the least as much virtue in it as is appropriated to Tea For the taste in drinking thereof once or twice one may easily accustom ones self to it and it will no longer seem unpleasant there be some that mix therewith Cloves and a few grains of Cardamome called in Latin Cardamomum minus which they name Cacoule others put thereto Sugar but this mixture which makes it more pleasant renders it less wholesom and profitable they drink a vast quantity thereof in the Turkish Country there is neither rich nor poor that drinks less than two or three cups a day and 't is one of the things wherewith the husband is obliged to furnish his Wife There be many publick Taverns of Cahue where they boyl it in great Kettles in these places all sort of people may come without distinction of Religion or quality and 't is no shame to frequent these places since many go only to recreate themselves there be also without the house Walls with Mats on them where those that will may sit and see all that pass by and take the air and there are some that play on the Violin Flute and other Musick who are hired by the Master of the Cavehane to play and sing the best part of the day to bring company together When anyone that has any breeding sees another of his acquaintance come into the Cavehane he will order the Master not to take their mony and that by one only word for when the Cahue is given them he Cries Giaba that is Gratis Monsieur de Bourges in the account he gives of the Voyage of the Bishop of Beryte to Cochinchina reckoning up the incommodities they underwent in the march of the Caravan through the Desert sets down as one of the most insupportable the want of water which they were put to much trouble to find and oftentimes they were forc'd to use corrupted water Whereupon he sayes As the water which they meet with is commonly naught putryfied to correct the indisposition which it causes in the stomach the Turks take a drink called Coffee which begins to be used by the Europeans This drink is made of a little Bean which
preserves it from the pains of the Stone to which there be none in these Countrys that are found subject but which is more it cures all pains of the head Rheums and soreness of the eyes of the breast shortness of breath weakness of the Stomach Griping of the Guts weariness and it so evidently hinders sleep that those persons who drink of the said decoction pass sometimes whole nights without sleeping and overcome without any trouble or tediousness the necessity of sleep which otherwise were insupportable for it heats moderately and contracts the upper orifice of the Stomach it retains and suppresses so well the vapours necessary in the creating sleep which rise from below that those who have a desire to spend th◠whole night in writing or studying do thereby find no manner of trouble or distrubance Noreover it is very likely that thi◠plant has not been long known to the Chineses themselves and that it has been in use amongst them but 〈◊〉 small time since they cannot find in their language any ancient word whereby to explain it and have not any hieroglyphick characters such as are almost all the Letters of the Chineses by the means whereof they might express its nature As to the manner of using this Plant we must take notice that these nations are very different one from t'other in that matter For the Iapaneses beat the same Plant to powder pounding it upon a marble stone and afterwards mingling it well with hot water but the Chineses only boyl it in some liquor adding thereto a few grains either of Salt or Sugar which decoction as yet hot they present afterwards very courteously as well to those that being invited to dinner they treat at home as to them that come to render them a visit This drink they make with so great care and so nice an application of their mind thereto even persons of the highest quality are not ashamed but on the contrary they take great pride to make with their own hands the decoction of this herb for their friends or at the least assist in the mingling thereof and preparing it as it ought to be having expresly for that purpose in the middle of their Palaces Rooms set apart wherein there are little Ovens made of the most precious stones and of most exquisite wood reserved particularly for the aforesaid preparation keeping also curiously in these Rooms the pots trivets funells bowls porringers and other vessells belonging to this sort of kitchin perfectly well wrought and on which they freely bestow some thousands of Crowns keeping them handsomly wrapt up and folded in peices of silk and not shewing them to any but their most intimate friends They do also make as great account thereof as we do of our Diamonds pretious Stones Necklaces of pearls of the highest Price As one may see more especially in several Authours that have written of the East Indies and more particulary of China and Iapan The end of Tea A Curious TREATISE OF THE NATURE and QUALITY OF CHOCOLATE Divided into Four Parts In the First whereof is declared what CHOCOLATE is and more particularly of the quality of CACAO and all the other Ingredients In the Second is shewn the quality that results from that Composition In the Third is taught how to make it and how many waies the West Indians use it and which of them is the most wholesome The last part treats of the quantity thereof and how it must be taken and in what time and by what persons By Antonio Colmenero de Ledesma a Spaniard Physician and Chyrurgion of the City of Ecija in Andaluzia Done into English from the Original Spanish By J. CHAMBERLAINE London Printed for W. Crook at the Green Dragon without Temple Bar 1685. The Preface to the Reader SO great is the number of those persons who at present do drink of Chocolate that not only in the West Indies whence this Drink has its Original and beginning but also in Spain Italy Flanders c. it is very much used and especially in the Court of the King of Spain where the great Ladies drink it in a morning before they rise out of their beds and lately much used in England as Diet and Phisick with the Gentry Yet there are several persons that stand in doubt both of the hurt and of the benefit which proceeds from the use thereof some saying that it obstructs and causes opilations others and those the most part that it fattens several assure us that it fortifies the Stomach Some again that it heats and inflames the body But very many stedfastly affirm that tho they shou'd drink it at all hours and that even in the Dog-days they find themselves very well after it And therefore it does not seem needless to me to have undertaken this labour for the profit and content of the publick endeavouring to accommodate this Drink to every Mans liking according to the variety of things which may be mixt therewith to the end that every one may choose that which he shall find most agreeable towards the cure of his infirmities I have not seen any thing of the like nature in Print afore unless that which a Physician of Merchend a Town in Andaluzia speaks thereof who judges the Chocolate to be obstructive because the Cacao is cold and dry and because this reason may not sufficiently avail with some persons that are troubled with obstructions to make them forbear the use thereof I think it fit to defend this mixture and composition by Philosophical Reasons against all those that would condemn so good and wholesom a Liquor THE USE OF CHOCOLATE The First Part. IN this first Division I affirm that Chocolate is a word of the Indians which vulgarly signifies no more than a cerain confection in the which besides the other simples and ingredients the Cacao Nut comes in as the princpal basis and foundation the Nature whereof first of all we must necessarily mention Chocolate therefore or Chocolatl is an Indian word by which as I said before is meant a certain paste or mixture composed of very many drugs of which they take a certain portion to dissolve it in ordinary Water or any other Liquor that may serve instead of drink This Drink is not common to all the Indians but only to those that inhabit the Northern America and namely to those that dwell in New Spain where grows the Cacao in great abundance which is the chiefest thing in this composition it is particularly used in Mexico whence it is transported into Europe to those places which hold great Commerce and correspondence with the Mexicans I hold therefore with the common opinion of all the world that the Cacao is cold and dry according to the excess of its quality Our Authour not speaking any thing concerning the Tree which bears the Cacao we are obliged to supply his over-sight by giving you a description thereof extracted from the works of Francis Ximenes in in his book intituled Of the
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