jus substantiae qualitate It is manifest by is effects and other signes that as to its intrinseck Qualities it is of a temperate Nature It s substance is made up of some subtle and some gross parts which sort of mixture is observable in many other products of Nature This Cacao nut is first beaten to powder then without any accessional but a gentle heat on a stone or iron-table or mortar it is worked laboriously into a mass or paste Which since it is done without the addition of any other thing it is an evident Argument that there is in it a tenacious and bituminous Substance The mixture of other Spicery corrects its coldness they penetrate and open Obstructions so that Chocolata is no way obstructing however others by eating raw or rosted Nuts or crushed into confects with Sugar much used by the Indian women may fall into tedious obstructions of the Spleen Liver Hypochondria and Womb. For ☜ these inconveniencies happen because it is not exactly grinded and that the performances of the Teeth and Stomach equal not those of the rowler in grinding and the molinet in actuating the Particles of the Cacao nut I shall reserve the particular decision of the controversie untill I have made a greater inquiry into the nature of the Nut and its several parts and â—ave examined my self its several effects in Iamaica at more leisure but suggest these present Considerations If the Nut be a right good Nut of Nicaragua or Caracas and Soconusco the Nuts of the Islands are not reputed equal to those of the main and in Iamaica they have but newly learned to cure them in which there is much art and so old as to be at its perfection not decay'd and of a darkish red approaching to black after it is pilled it is to Taste adstringent and a little bitterish but not very unpleasant to any who shall have eaten but a few of them It will be dry and hard to taste and not dissolve into an unctuous liquour in the mouth though you may easily perceive in a rich nut to the Taste an extraordinary butyrousness though congeled and fixed by some particular Principle else I never could observe any coldness in the nut at all neither on the tongue nor stomach nor yet any sense of heat If the sensible bitterishness must argue heat the effects of which are not further perceived because the unctuous parts implicate and dull the vigour of the other and if that the sensible unctuousness in the most dry nuts maugre the stypticity evinces their moisture yet will any who eats the nut be apt to excuse them who by their taste judge the nut ungrinded to be cold and dry in the first and second Degreâ— I have already shewed that our Experience in England in my self and others some being well some being sickly doth not evidence the Nut eaten of it self not reduced to a Paste on a stone to be obstructing or clogging to the Stomach and whereas it is attributed to the grinding and so commixing the parts that it keeps the body soluble our Experience shews that even the Nâ—t eaten produceth the like effect though by the taste one would conjecture otherwise Whereas it is said by some that the Nut in Paste dissolved into water is of an hot as well as moist nature I must propose some doubts thereto since it is so good in fevers and to quench thirst at other times and is so repugnant to cold Stomachs a general calamity in hot Climates that the Indians and English generally are inforced to mix with it either long Pepper or Iamaica-Pepper or red Pepper call'd Chilli to make it supportable to their Stomachs and Men otherwise of unquestionable strength and health have assured me upon their own experience that this is true Besides it is a known Experiment both in Spain and the Indies that the butyrous and oily part of the Cacao nut being taken of and preserved from the Chocolata or otherwise drawn is a very great remedy against Inflammations and particularly the Erisipelas or fire of St. Anthony And in such applications it is sensibly cooling In fine let men debate eternally the temperament of the Nut they who have ascribed to it Qualities altogether repugnant to nutriment have never controverted its incredible nutritive faculty It is in this that all agree It is multi alimenti yields plentious nourishment saith Hernandez who holds it to be temperate or inclining to cold and moisture Io. de Laet saith of it refrigerat nutrit insigniter it cools and nourishes exceedingly Dr. Iuanes de Cardenas professeth that it yields buen sustento al cuerpo good nourishment for the body And Roblez who concurs in opinion with the other that it is cold and dry declares it to be summamente alimentoso exceeding nutritive And Benzonus gives it this Character Ea Caelia sapore aliquantùm amaro satiat refrigerat corpus minimè tamen inebriat That muddy Drink or Ale with its bitterish taste satisfies and cools the body not intoxicating any way the Head And it is observable that albeit the eating of Cullises and Iellies continually doth so debilitate the Stomach that thorough much use of the former men become incapable to digest any grosser meats of the verity of which practical Observation there is a notable instance in Sanctorius of a Student at Padua who that he might have more time to study and not be diverted therefrom by any reâ—â—rd of Diet fed himself only with Iellies and Câ—llises wherewith he expected not only to be strengthened much but also freed from the concerns of exercise and other circumstances necessary for digesting stronger meats but he afterwards falling sick and being inured to no other food then that appertained to sick-folks whilst he was well being sick could receive no no sustenance at all and so dyed lamentably for want of food more then by the violence of his disease I say it is not so with the plain Chocolata made of the pure Cacao-Paste and perhaps a little Sugar and Pepper for the Indians English and Spaniards who have lived on it several days sometimes weeks without any other food do without any inconvenience resume a more gross Diet and again intermit it at their pleasure I have been thus particular in the inquiry into the nature of the Cacao nut because it is the principal Ingredient in Chocolata and it is this Nut alone in the Composition if there be neither Maiz nor Bean-meal in it which may be admitted in small quantities as wholesome for ought I can imagine or Pistachia nuts or Almonds of the healthfulness of either of which but especially the latter I doubt as to this Composition which yieldeth the nourishment and fatness which is expected from the Drink and often found All the other are but Spicery under which I comprise Amber-griese and Musk and serve at best but as a Vehicle to distribute the Cacao nut into the body and to make it agreable to
laid on a stone or table the least warmth makes the said powder dissolve into an oyliness or fattyness instantly and it will alone work into a paste without any intermixture and keep a year Which paste well made up alone or with Pocholt was I presume all the Chocolata that Motezuma and the antient Indians had then dissolving it in Atolle It will beat into a Powder and so may be remix'd with new Ingredients of spicery and sugar to make the more delicious Chocolata I took a quantity of it being exquisitely ground and dissolved it in hot water and having â—et it stand a while by the fire to dissolve I milled it without the mixture of any thing but pure Cacao paste and water it frothed moderately but the froth was but of little continuance and being suffered to cool it gathered like fat both in colour and substance on the top of the most fat broths or pottage to a great thicknesse but when it came to be cold however it had before a resemblance rather of fat then oyl it gathered into a resemblance of crâ—â—m and indeed it had just such a consistence but the colour was yellowish To the bottom there did settle a great quantity which I took and tasted of and I found it to tast just as Almond butter exactly as to its unctuousnesse but it had the bitternesse which is proper to the Cacao nut The water it self beneath the cream was reddish and after I had purely taken of the cream it had not only a fatty taft but taking some out and bathing my hands in it I found it extreme fatty I took that Setling and heated it in fresh water â—ill it began to boil then I milled it again and let it stand to cool it was at first extraordinary fatty then being cold it yielded its cream and a red shining Cacao-butter as I may call it by an allusion to Almondâ—butter and a coloured fatty water as before only with this difference that the Cacao butter seemed a little less unctuous and not so perfectly to dissolve and glide off the tongue as before Which put me upon another Experiment of decocting and milling it till I might extract all the fat out of it and discover the nature of this setling if it might be so terrestrial and obstructive as some imagine I heaâ—ed the aforesaid setling in fresh water and milled it well and instead of crâ—am though the water as it cooled shewed signes of a great fattinesse there did gather on the top a thin covering or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if I may so call it of fat such as will rise on mutton pottage not too fat The watâ—â— proved unctuous to my hand as before but the seâ—ling had no longer the fineness and melâ—ing taâ—t of Almond butter but seem'd as if it were not finely powder'd and besides its bitterishnesse to have an evident piercing adstringency From whence I concluded that it could not be obstructive but opening and that when the fatty alimentous parts were distributed for nourishment the others as before they seemed to corroborate the stomach and promote digestion which things moderately bitter and adstringent do so now they open the obstructions promote concoction in the several guts and go away in stool which is the excellency of bread corn that the bran doth promote the appetite and digestion and keeps the body open and is more healthy then Manchet and it is mix'd by many with successe in Diet-drinks to this end And it is further observable that in this Experiment whereas the Nut it self and the paste of Cacao and the Cream and the two first Setlings yea and the Fatty water did by their burning give more or lesse visible testimonies of their unctuous nature in their flames the last greety and incoherent Setling would not burn at all in flames Besides during the reiteration of these Experiments which was a fortnight there never appeared any augmentation of the cream by standing beyond a few hours nor no alteration in it by standing sâ—â—dry dayes the cream the water the Setling were still the same as to consistâ—nce colour and taste it never as to any part of it sowred in a fortnight's keeping nor gave any sign of corruption though during that time I boiled and milled the same decoction several â—â—mes and upon any fire to heat it I observed that Setling to arise and incorporate with the rest the cream dissolving as Urine when turned at the fire and when it cooled it did resetle before as the said Urines do in like case At the same time as I tryed sundry Experiments with paste of the one lump I observed that having boiled the water and dissolved the Cacao paste in it and milled it but a little though upon cooling it seemed very fat yet did it yield but little cream Another part that was well milled and yielded as much cream as covered the pipkin all over to a moderate thicknesse being skimmed and milled and cool'd and creamed again I took it and heated it till it began to boil and then poured it out of the pipkin instantly and it came out so clearly and without any reliques of water in the pipkin as water doth usually glide off oyled cloth or other vessels when cold water is powred on cold grease And this happened upon three tryals the water being thoroughly unctuous by being twice or thrice heated and milled for else it succeeds not and to make it more conspicuous in several parts off the pipkin I could observe some little remainders of the water slide off in round globes or corpuscles as it will do off oyled cloth or greased vessels From whence I thougâ—t I might collect a reason why the farrynesse of the Nut doth not annoy the stomach being taken in drink as other fat or oyl will for it exactly commixs with the liquor and swims not on the top in these last Experiments it was never milled but having been milled some dayes before and cooled in the pipkin it was again heated and stirred with a spoon a little and powred out and if as it cools part of it seem to ascend yet doth not that all condense into cream but the water under is fatty and as it is hot and boils it is still so as appears by this Experiment which happens not so in other fat broths Thus the unctuous parts not floating as in fat or butter dissolved in posset drink to provoke or help vomits on the top and the bitterish and adstringent parts by a little heat commixing with the other it must be a very great repletion can make Cacao paste offensive to the stomach and its orifice I took also Cacao paste and dissolved and milled it well in cold water and it did froth and upon standing yield a cream in as great a proportion as that did which had been dissolved in hot water and well milled the cream was yellowish and inflammable the setling was just as to â—â—lour and taste like to the other
saving that drinking of it before it setled I found it to be nauseous to the stomach so as I who hitherto never distasted any thing I had a mind to take could not much relish the drinking of it not that it was vehemently cold to the stomach but that the fattinesse of it made the water unpleasant being cold and it had also a rawishnesse in it as if the fat required boiling or further Cookery which yet I felt not upon eating either the nuts or paste of Cacao Or else it was because that the warmth of the water causeth a more absolute commixture of the parts which may prevent as well as of those which may cause nauseousnesse Or it was because that many things may be taken hot without offence or distast which cannot be so when cold the heat of the vehicle either correcting the potion or corroborating the stomach I took also some simple Cacao paste and put it into cold water and set it on a gentle fire stirring it with a spoon till it was dissolved I suffered it to boil gently and kept it all day in such a posture that it did either boil or continued boiling hot but rather the latter After it had stood seven or eight hours during which time I observed the Decoction to grow extraordinary oily and to fill the spoon with a water so thick that I thought it was transformed all into fat and oil â— it appeared all full of globous corpuscles 〈◊〉 if it had been oil broken into parcels but these Corpusâ—les did never embody into greater quantities nor commix upon agitation yet by long digestion I observed they grew to a larger size yet would not commix there being besides them a distinct fattinesse to be seen And in the end I perceived a new body to discover it self in great quantities it was not globous but flattish and for colour and taste and nature participated more of mutton fat then any thing else It was of colour yellowish inclining to white and had little taste of the Cacao's bitternesse or adstringency These fatty Particles I could not get to embody into one or more bigger bodies though I could agiâ—â—te them with a spoon for I never milled them into lesse yet did I perceive that some of them were bigger then others and at last some of them did enlarge themselves into a size as broad as a Groat and of an indifferent depth or thicknesse yet could I not stir these into one or more bigger masses Whereupon I set it to cool and it was long before these bodies of oil fat did harden and disappear out of their former shape so that I thought I had resolved it into Oil since no Cream was to be seen But being called away by business which permitted me not the leasure to observe the minute â—â—anges in this reiterated Experiment at my return I found several whitiâ—â— or pale-yellowish bodies like to Fat swimming on the top there being no Cream nor other body to overcast the top and hinder their free floating some were bigger thicker and broader and longer then others and of no determinate Figure They were very solid and melted on the tongue totally as Fat or Butter would or Clarified Deer's-suet to which they were equal in hardnesse they had as I and others judged a farewell or relish of the Cacao at last upon the tongue So that I observed that no dissolution could totally separate its bitterishnesse and little piercing adstringency which is peculiar to the Nut and consequently it could never easily become offensive or obstructing The Water or Decoction was fatty and had a deep red tincture and the Setling as it was deeply red so it had little of Oilinesse or resemblance of Almond butter but it was attended with a roughnâ—sse or sensible inequality of parts the unctuousnesse being almost as much extracted from this Setling as from that which had been Decocted and Milled in several Waters of which I already spoke I could see no tokens of what carryed whilst it was hot the appearance of Oil. Having shewed it for several dayes to divers persons I heated it again and instantly the said hard Fat dissolved the Setling did remix with the rest of the Liquor and I had a Decoction of a most deep red and swimming with largâ— Fatty â—â—d Oily Particles I caused it to be well mâ—â—led and setting it to cool the said large innatant bodies resembling a Solution of Fat in Water and parcels of Oil were dissipated and broken or so incorporated with other Corpuscles that I could get very few and those very very small pieces of solid Fat the same happened in compound Chocolata though I had before had lumps that might weigh ten or twelve grains But there did gather on the top a skin or cuticle very thin though the body of the water and top did shine with a visible Fattishnesse and powred out of the pipkin with such an unctuousnessâ— or oylinesse being scalding hot that nothing did or would stick or otherwise then glide off as from oiled cloth which it doth not when powred out cold Of fat it was not hard but having an affinity with the usual cream already mentioned in other tryals but improportionate to the fat dissolved and the setling seemed to me more unctuous then bâ—fore and like Almond butter I have not time to multiply reflections hereon but whosoever shall set himself to observe the dissolution of Cacao paste or Chocolata cakes according as they are milled in water or not milled and according as they boil and not boil therein and according as they gradually dissolve on a quick or leasurely fire will finde a great diversity of parts occasioned by the different texture of â—â—em and shall finde both colour and taste to vary several times especially in the Compound Chocolata to his amazement I shall conclude with one tryal more The powder of Cacao paste tastes very fatty yet according to variety of nuts it dissolves with the least heat on a stone like butter but a great heat dries it and leaves a red bitterish and astringent powder behind I took also of the said paste and heated it on a fire shovel and if at first it melted with a gentle heat it did evaporate away its oily parts by a more violent one and smelling to the smoke arising from it I had my smell affected with such a nidor as issues from fat when broiled on the coals but milder These circumstances of its fattinesse and oilinâ—sse and of its nidorous exhalations being burned do very much recommend the Nut for a very nutritive thing It s dissolving by the least fire or warmth argues its facile digestiblenesse It s easy concretion evidenceth its promptitude to be assimilated into nourishment of the parts And its nidorous vapour being burnt proves that it carries with it if any can doubt this that sees the Oil or Fat swimming in the pure Cacao decoction at least a potential fat and is a greater â—logy
it which made Clusius say that besides its adstringent Taste it had so unpleaâ—ant an one that it was no wonder if such as first taste the primitive Chocolata care â—ot for it Of the same judgment was Benzonus for which he was laughed at by the Nicaraguans and necessity made him to comply at last with them in drinking it in that original and simple manner It hath a Taste somewhat bitterish and sub-adstringent and hath such a mixture of parts that Authors no way agree in Charactering its temper If we look on the Nut and taste it without any other preparation then that of taking off the hull one would accord with Roblez El Cacao es frio y seco de su templansa y per esto tienen partes astringentes con que opila The Cacao nut is by temperament cold and dry and therefore hath adstringent parts with which it begetteth Obstructions Truly that it is dry seems then sensible and that it is cold the universal experience of all who say it allays thirst incredibly and cools the Liver or any other inflamed part seems seems a pregnant Argument And of the same judgment with Roblez who lived in Peru was Dr. Iuanes de Cardenas who lived in the Indies and practised Physick there and made use of his â—wn judgment as well as the Narrations of the Natives He thinks the Cacao nut to be cold and dry in a degree betwixt the first and second Because he is an eminent Writer and his Assertions may perhaps suit best with the generality of Physicians inured to old Hypotheses I shall set down the substance of his judgment as to the Cacao nut He acknowledges a triple distinction of parts in the Cacao nut from whence ariseth a ternary of distinct Qualities in it The first is a cold dry earthy and melancholy substance which if it prevail above the rest it produceth Obstructions and Melancholy and destroies concoction The second is airy hot and proportionate to butter which by agitation and milling riseth in froth This he reputes to be hot and moist and of a lenifying nature which whilest it prevails begets a quite contrary effect for it nouriâ—heth much and multiplies Blood and vital Spirits and enables men to labour This butyrous substance doth principally manifest it self in the Cacao nut when it is indifferent aged and hath been kept a good while and is not a little helped in the shewing it self by being roasted or heated in a frying-pan or kettle before the oil be drawn or it be made into a paste The third sort of parts which he professes to be in it is hot and dry which carries wâ—â—h it a faint resemblance of adustion which makes it to seem bitterish to the taste By reason of the latter parts it becomes penetrating and conveys the other alimentous parts into the body it provokes sweat and monethly evacuations in women it opens all Obstructions and these guide the more oily and butyrous parts into the entrails whereby the body is preserved soluble This multiplicity of parts produceth several effects in the persons using Chocolate according as they are healthy or sick of a weak or strong stomach troubled with Obstructions or free from them And much depends on the individual constitution of persons as also on the Artificial mixture of it into Chocolata whereby the several parts are actuated and vigorated the butyrous parts set at liberty from the confinement they were under by reason of the styptick Particles which more appear to sense in the nut then in the mass for the former dissolve not on the tongue no not when chewed as doth the latter nor hath the latter that sensible astringency and bitterness joyned with its unctuousness and aptitude to melt on the tongue as the former Hernandez who was principal Physician in the Kingdom of Mexico and was appointed by Philip II. to wriâ—e Medicinal and Natural Observations in that Province is at a great loss what â—ature and Temperament to ascribe to this Nut. It is saith he made up of different Particles but very well embodyed and mix'd it is something bitter something sweet and either of a temperate Nature or a little inclined to coldness and moisture Others are of opinion that this Cacao nut is of a temperament inclining to heat and moisture and they consider not the nut as it is entire or under no greater comminution then what the teeth infer but as it is grinded into a paste and sometimes as mixed with water and agitated into forth by a Molinet And their reasons are first because in the grinding it into paste and in the working it up and in the dissolving it in Water again still there are no visible signes of any thing if it be well done and the nuts good but of parts moderately hot moist and unctuous or butyrous there being little or no terrestrial and heavy gross setling whilest it is hot and when it is milled it goes all almost into froth and fat which proceeds say they from an airy hot and moist substance mixing with winde Another Argument they bring for their opinion from the quick nourishment it gives For say they and Galen too that it could not so soon turn into nourishment of the Blood and Spirits if it had not a proportionateness and agreement of temper therewith for there would be some time requisite to assimilate and change what haâ—â— a discrepancy with our Nature before it â—ould nourish us But that which is analogous to our nature is Balsamically hot and moist not cold and dry which are enemies to it Gul. Piso resolves the controversies of the Cacao nut thus Veniamus ad Cacacii Qâ—alitates intrinsecas Has equidem ex effectibus caeterÃsque indiciis constat esse temperatas Substantia ei ex crassioribus simul tenuioribus partibus composita est prorsus ùt in infinitis aliis vegetabilibus observatum est diversas omnino sub eadem forma Substantias coâ—tineri Noster autem Cacacius in pulverem redigitur primùm solâ mox etsi frequenti tusione pinsitur in massam cogitur Quod cùm fiat sine ullius rei admistione ratio arguit aliquid esse in eo tenacis bituminosi instar humoris Aeris Elemento respondens Multa insuper eidem quibuscum suâpte naturâ miscetur insunt ignea quae necessariò incidere atque reserare debent corporis meatus non verò praecludere ùt quidam voluerunt nisi hoc intelligant de crudo vel tosto vel Saccharo condito quo mulieres in Indiis nimium vesci amant unde uteri alvi Hypochondriorum obstructiones incurrunt difficillimas Verùm totum hoc oritur quòd interior ejus substantia dentium incisione non exactè comminuitur nec perfectè commiscetur requiritur enim artificiosa molae veâ—satilis contritio atque tunc demùm siquid noxiae supersit frigiditatis aliorum calidorum commixtione temperatur communicatâ singulis partibus â—âc intimae
it strengthens and preserves in full vigour the principal faculties in men by the exquisiteness of its temperament and Aromatical power being digested with its moderate heat it dispells Winde and by its penetrancy and opening quality it removes Obstructions provoketh the monethly evacuations in Women and amongst other qualities it generally preserves the body soluble and it doth more speedily and readily refresh and invigorate the bodily strength then any other sustenance whatever no other potable liquours which yet do most quickly nourish producing so speedy and sensible an effect whereby it seems to be peculiarly differenced from all other Viands CHAP. VI. How to make use of the Chocolata by preparing it into Drink I Think I have sufficiently at least according to my present leasure and the unsupplyable want of my own Library and Collections manifested the effects of Chocolata I shall now treat of the way of preparing it into Drink when any hath occasion to use it And because that the Composition it self is of the Indian discovery as I have hitherto still directed my inquiries by searching into their Usages and Opinions concerning the several Ingredients so I shall now begin with a recital of the several ways they use to prepare it into Drink and for this I have the most accurate account from Mr. Gage who yet seems to transcribe Ledesma whom I shall therefore transcribe with such Animadversions as may seem pertinent The manner of Drinking it is divers The one being the way which is used in Mexico is to take it hot with Atolle dissolving a Tablet in hot Water and then stirring it and beating it in the Cup where it is to be drunk with a Molinet and when it is well stirred to a scum or froth then to fill the Cup with hot Atolle and so drink it sup by sup This way of preparing it may seem since it is the way of Mexico to have been the way that Motezuma treated Bernaldus del Castillo with when he caused to be brought forth jarros grandes hechos de buen Cacao con su espuma great jarrs made with good Cacao with its froth It is not to be questioned but that the pure Cacao-paste well dissolved in hot water and long and violently agitated with a Molinet will raise a considerable but not lasting Froth not inferiour to what with less agitation is seen where Eggs entire or Yolks alone are put in much more perhaps it may froth if that Paste had Pochol or Paniso grains mixed with it or if being well milled before it were a second time milled upon the commixture of the Atolle for the Maiz flower would make it froth much and it is from the commixture of Maiz or Bean-flower or perhaps some other substitute that some Chocolata doth now froth more then others though the difference in the milling likewise produce a variety I have already explicated what Atolle is in the beginning and so shall not repeat it but onely add that from this way of the Indians using it our Physicians may order it to be drunk with streined Water-gruel Almond-milk or cremore ptisanae or any other mixture they please that is more or less nourishing as they please ordering the Chocolata according to the aforesaid Method concerning which Dr. Iuanes de Barrios gives this admonition Para hombres y mugeres Sanguineos no se tome con Atole por que aumenta la sangre sino con aqua poco anis Chile y acucar y mingunas especies Aromaticas ni cosas de olor Y para los Flegmaticos se haga con todos los Ingredientes que avemos dicho o con mas especies de lo ordinario y se tome mui caliente Y en los Melancholicos que se haga sin Chile poco anis y con coras de buen olor y que se tome tibio For men and women of a Sanguine Complexion it is not to be taken with Aâ—olle because it multiplyeth Blood in the body but with Water a little Anise-seeds Chiles and Sugar but no Spicery is to be put in nor sweet scented things for such persons But for the Phlegmatick let it be made with all the Ingredients used in the Indies or with a greater quantity of Spices then is ordinary and let it be taken very hot And for the Melancholy persons see it be made without Chiles with a few Anisefeeds and with Ingredients of a sweet smell and taking it luke-warm Which Caution may not only direct us as to Atolle which is not to be made or used in England but illustrates and confirms an Animadversion of mine formerly laid down viz. that according to the several tempers and ☞ distempers of persons there ought to be framed variety of Chocolata and that to be given variously as the discreet Physician shall propose and this is agreeable you see to the procedure of the Indies Another way of drinking Chocolatte is that the Chocolatte being dissolved with cold water and stirred with the Molinet and the scum taken of and put into another vessel the remainder be set on the fire with as much Sugar as will sweeten it and when it is warm then to poure it on the scum which was taken of before and so drink it I understand not the reason of this procedure unless it be for ornament sake it looking more pleasantly being thus ordered then if the water were hot and milled to a froth with Chocolata and so drunk It is certain yet strange that the Cacao-paste being milled well with cold water will froth as much and yield as plentiful a scum or cream upon setling as it will do if it were milled in hot water and I have shewed how that cream is fat and the water also is fatty though cold in which it is milled but it comes not to that red colour which the other hath which is prepared hot This sâ—eum being taken of and the rest heated and put to it pouring it on high makes it look more pleasantly on the top then if it were a bare solution of the Cacao-paste which will dissolve in it so as not to precipitate any setling almost whilest it is hot and the Cacao-paste which remains after the froth is taken of to be heated dissolves sufficiently in the water by meer heating without milling Besides these ways there is another way which is much used in the Island of Santo Domingo which is to put the Chocolatte into a Pipkin with a little water and to let it boil well till it be dissolved and then to put in sufficient Water and Sugar according to the quantity of the Chocolatte and then to boil it again untill there comes an oily scum on it and then to drink it This way I was at first much pleased with and upon tryal I found that it did more perfectly dissolve the Nut then any and reduced it into a perfect fatty broth which did not at all offend my Stomach but notwithstanding that it did not
perhaps some other Ingredients As to the former way of making up Chocolata into Lozenges or Cakes and so eating it my Spanish Author gives it this Character which indeed extends to both sorts mandendo aut in buccellis comedere insuperabiles obstructionâ—â— creat seu dum fiunt bellaria cum saccharo aut in pasta â—omeditur To eat Chocolata in Cakes or otherwise by bits begets insuperable Obstructions that is if you eat it made up into Confects or Sweat-meats with Sugar or in Paste I cannot I must confess pass so general a sentence on Chocolata I suppose the Opinion of it is to be regulated by the goodness of the Chocolata that is eaâ—en and that I leave to be examined by my precedent Discourse about the variety thereof That the Cacao-nut is nourishing there is no doubt of it that the simple paste may innocently be eaten I think too but that Chocolata made up with so great a proportion of Sugar and with such Spices Oils and Essences as are used all or some of them in the Chocolata designed for that use I believe no Physician will promisâ—uously and without distinction of Persons allow it but who hath another Opinion of Sugar and Spicery except what I have recommended and Chymical Oils and Essences then I have in this case or many other It is true Hippocrates saith It is easier to be nourished with Drinks then solid meat and that They who have need to be quickly refreshed must be dieted with Drinks or potable liquours but these two Sayings make not for the giving of Chocolata in Paste or Confects no more then his recommending in sundry cases Pâ—isanes of Barley doth encourage us to give to weak Stomachs barleyâ—bread or because Almond-milk is good therefore to recommend the Maccaroni of Italy so condemned by Fienus Should I say never so much for the one or other way and evince them to be better then any preparations of Almonds and Pistachias as I beliveve them to be yet would they still be Sweet-meats and consequently more used Fienus Should I say never so much for the one or other way and evince them to be better then any preparations of Almonds and Pistachias as I beliveve them to be yet would they still be Sweet-meats and consequently more used then approved And the Obstructiveness of them how inveterate and obstinate soever arises not from any particular badness of the Cacao-nut but from the general unwholesomness of all Confects and Sweet-meats And this I shall not now make out by Arguments though it might easily be done but by the instance given by Dr. Hart in his Diet of the diseased lib. 1. cap. 22 and it is as follows I remember living in Paris 1607 a young Clerk living with a Lawyer in the City procured a false key for the Closet where his Mistresses Sweet-meats lay and for many days together continued thus to feast with her Sweet-meats and loaf-sugar whereof there was no small store untill at length he became so pale in Colour lean in Body and withall so feeble that he was scarce able to stand on his legs insomuch that the skilfullest Physicians of the City with the best means they could use â—ad much ado to restore him to his former health again A little time will shew whether the use of these new Cakes will be as prejudicial to health and productive of Consumptions and other weaknesses of the back or Hypochondria in our English Women as the rest of Sweet-meats have been for it is the general opinion that the multitude of Sweet-meats used by our Ladies is the occasion of our aforesaid Diseases so much increasing I I shall not now enquire into the verity of the Opinion for there are instances of Countries in which Sweet-meats are much more used then here amongst us and yet they â—re not so molested as we with those Distempers I say then that the ill effects of Sweet-meats do but accidentally follow upon their use and therefore we ought to examine those circumstances that occasion his variety of effects which I have not leisure to do nor that opportunity which I expect amidst the Sugar-works of the West Indies CHAP. VI. The Author's judgment concerning Chocolata summarily delivered as to its effects and the ways of using it IT were easie to evidence the excellâ—ncy of warm Drinks above those that are taken cold if I had leisure for certainly if the use of Drink be to allay thirst to moisten the body and to distribute or help the digestion of the food we take it is not to be doubted but hot Drinks perform all this better then cold and for the evincing of this to each point both Reason and Experience might be alledged For the practise of the antient Romans favours much hot Drinks as every man knows and the modern tryals of Campanella and Gassendus as well as Antonius Persius doth manifest that all the aforesaid ends may be attained by warm or hot Drinks and particularly as to the quenching of thirst it is undenyable that hot Drink not only quencheth it at present but prevents its return better then cold and yields as much delight maugre the assertion of Pliny that all Animals desire cold Drink and that musty Definition of Aristotelian Philosophy that Sitis est appetitus frigidi humidi Thirst is a desire of cold and moisture which is notoriously false disproved by the Arguments and tryal of Gassendus as well as others Yea Drinks that are taken hot surpass themselves in their effects compared to what they do when taken cold Thus hot water drunk daily before Diner cures the Stone and Gravel in the Reins as Zecchius affirms and Trallianus and the benefit others have found by it doth manifest Wine drunk hot doth much more corroborate a weak Stomach then when drunk cold as Costaeus avows and hath been tryed by several in Consumptions to my knowledg I shall not speak concerning the Decoctions of China-root Sarsa-Parilla and Guajacum of which the same Assertion may be made I have not leisure to insist hereon nor the conveniency of my Library to aid my memory with citations at present I suppose then that in general Chocolata is rather advantaged then prejudiced by being an hot Drink It is of an unquestionable nourishment for as it is the chief sustenance of the Spanish Indies this cannot be colourably denyed and though Pope Vrban the Eighth did declare it in discourse and by a solemn Bull that it was meerly a Drink and so consistent with the Fasts of the Church yet few believe him infallible therein who understand the Drink and the Carmelite-Friers by way of Mortification have a Statute amongst them in the Indies that they will drink no Chocolata You will not finde Mr. Gage to take a journey but he makes it an important care to provide Chocolata nor is he singular therein but follows the general example of the Spaniards Whether he is treated publickly by Towns or privately by
more rightly fat then any other way but I observed that the Spice had a more vehement heat and taste then otherwise which happened either because the boiling added a sharpness to them or that the compages or body of the Composition was more laxed then otherwise for not being mill'd it did not seem so well commix'd as otherwise b I am sure that the simple Cacao-paste sowres not by boiling long and several times no not my compound Chocolata but it is possible that the Vaynillas Alexandrian Roses or some other Ingredient in Spain may upon boiling give the drink a sowrish taste Or it may subvert the Stomach by becoming too oily or unctuous as I observed before c Gul. Piso in Mant. Aromat cap. 18. I caused some Chocolata of my ordinary sort to be boiled and some I milled the other part I did not and drinking both of them cold I did not finde any disagreement but a pleasingness to my taste yet was that unmilled very fatty ☞ d It is an indubitable Truth that after digestion and descent of the Chyle into the guts there are still some remainders in the Stomach which by long fasting or particular indisposition do corrupt and grow acid such continuing so are not to be wrought on but if they be diluted by the mixture of warm Chocolata Nature will then concoct it as it doth Spirit of Vitriol or the like with Julep e If it be too thick they say it will obstruct if it be too thin it yields neither delight nor nourishment considerable f Mr. Gage Ch. 16. saith that when he purposed to sit up late to study he would take a cup about seven or eight a clock at night which would keep him waking till midnight I took it my self twice at ten a clock at night and I think it did render me less sleepy then ordinary though I am usually one of little sleep g I have been ascertained also of these accidents by one who lived many years in Portugal and made Chocolata there h Fienus Dâ—flat I must say this in favour of the Cacao above Almond and Pistachia-sweet meats that I cannot take any Sugar'd Drinks or Sweet-meats without a sensible disorder of my blood but I never found that Chocolata though drunk with a double proportion of Sugar besides what is in the Paste or Cake did ever offend me but refresh and comfort me very much nor did the Chocolata-Cake eaten ever offend me though I never found it to strengthen or satisfie much no nor the Nuts when eaten dry which is a strange effect yet perceivable to any that drink and eat it or the Nuts a Gassendus Phys. Sect. 〈◊〉 l. 5. c. 1. Si habeatur ratio valetudinis docet experientiae quà m saepe gelidae potus noceat quà m nunquam potus calefactae b Trallian l. 9. c. 4 5. c Costaeus De puot in morb lib. 1. cap. 52. d Lib. 4. cap. 22. e Acosta lib. 4. cap 22. Gage chap. 16. Benzon lib. 2. f Vide Prosper Alpin Medic. method lib. 11. cap. 13. g Act. 15. 29. h Petron. De vict Rom. lib. 5. cap. 1. Prosper Alpin Med. method lib. 3. cap. 6. i Vide Prosper Alpin lib. 3. Med. Method cap. 6. k Aug. de civit Dei lib. 4. cap. 23. 24. The whole Passage being too large to insert here is put in at the end of the book to illustrate the effects of Adam's fall and as an Apology for this Discourse against severe Censurers I hope the Presbyterians will consider this and no longer condemn the Chocolata drinkers for Luxury and Venereal inclinations since it seems manifest that there is no Venereal projects like to your constant Diet viz. a Cawdle in a morning milde but hearty a diner of solid meats a good Sack-posset with Eggs milde Spice at night and all day a moderation in drink and exercise l Vide Petron. De vict Roman lib. 3. cap. 19. De ovis lib. 5. cap. 16. Qui etiam ad sobolem procreandam majore irritamento plurìque semine indigent hos efficaciùs suaviùs concubituros si priùs quà m uxorem ineant ferculum ex lacte â—vâ—rum quae tremula nuncupantur cum pane recenti quemadmodum lac ipsum comeditur â—riduùm quatriduúmve manè vesperì ante cibum assumpserint Neque in hoc casu praesidium aliud ullum huic par esse sive pipiones cum vino rubro cum Aromatibus sive Diasatyrion in medium adduxreis I cannot rely upon my own experience in any part of these amorous Discourses and Observations but I owe it all to the acquaintance I have had with Persons the vigour of whose Spirits as it made them learned and eminent Philosophers so it did incline them to render to love It being observed by the Marquess Malvezzi that Men of great parts are not chaste by Nature but Grace or Prudence makes them to be so But as to the taking of the white of an Egg in gruel at night I have for some years scarce used any other Suppeâ— and I finde it to refresh my Spirits which are taken up with perpetual contemplations and to allay all ardours of the Blood and vapours whose acrimony might disturb my rest and to remove all weariness occasion'd by study or travail m Oritur Aspermia ob rerum impensè calidarum usum quae semen succos è quibus prodit exsiccant exhauriunt ùt ruta mentha camphora alia id genus malefiâ—a naturalia quibus addi potest nova illa forbitio ex calidissimis herbis ab Indis parata quam vocant Chocolate Haec enim Seminalem succum arefaâ—it adeò ut qui illam frequentant brevi tempore aspermati fiant Sinibald Geneanthrop lib. 15. tr 1. cap. 20. n Mr. Gage Chap. 15. to begin his journey drinks Chocolatte and eats a Maple-bread with a little Conserve and in the sâ—me Chapter that we may know how hot he drank it he calls it a scalding cup of his Chocolatte o Vide Lipsium in Elect. Stuckium lib. 3. De Conviviis Mercurialem c. p Augen Epist. t. 3. l. 10. Ep. 30. q Valles Philos Sacr. r Heurnius De morb cap. cap. 17. f Vide Alex. Trajan Petron. De victu Roman t So did Motezuma as I shewed in the beginning out of Bernaldus del Castillo a Rather fat b And into bigger bodies too upon long infusing and decocting c This is better done on a Stone-table d This is true if the Cacao-paste be long digested on the fire and never mill'd and it is to be seen only whilst it is hot for being cold you haveâ— only a fatty water and some large lumps of fat floating whilest the lesser grains sink or strike against the side all in very different and irregular figures e In those hot Countries men are very apt to be troubled with retention of Urine which is the great reason they still mix in their Compositions what provokes Urine it being usual even here for those that sweat and transpire much to make less water wherefore we see that in Colds the Vrine is more then ordinary f If it be taken too soon after meals in which it hath no peculiar inconvenience but what is general to any Sustenance and it hurts least because less apt to corrupt then other food is a Lud. Vives upon this place tells us that there was such an one a German about Maximilian's court and his Son Philip's that would have rehearsed any Verse whatsoever with his tail b 〈…〉 when he was sick of a Tertian at Bruges as often as the Physician told him it was good to sweat he would but hold his breath a little cover himself over head in the beâ— and sweat presently They that saw it wondered at his strange constitution but they would have wondered more at Augustine's Sweater that sweat as easily as one could spit
the intrigues of Nature to be paralleled in Opium Camphire Vitriol Quick-silver c concerning which our most inquisitive and Philosophical Physicians are so perplexed and differing in Opinions that we may pardon the discrepancy of the Writers alledged here Whosoever shall try these Vaynillas by the strength and penetratingness of their smell and perhaps by the vigâ—ur of their effects performing what nothing of European or East-Indy growth of a less Degree in heat and dryness then the third doth will rank them with those of that sort but here who shall consult his Senses and observe the mild delicacy in these American Products and particularly in the Vaynillas which is inconsistent with so much heat and dryness and shall consider that his tongue feels nothing parallel to what happens upon the tasting of a grain of Chili or red Pepper which yet is placed as hot in the third Degree he will by many degrees separate and distinguish the former from the latter And indeed these powerful effects are not the consequents of an excess of Heat but of parts moderately hot and well subtiliated and digested in a Country whose Climate yields ☞ an uninterrupted temperature of Heat to its production from whence we may once for all observe that it is impossible to provide any succedanea or substitutes for these kind of Commodities for to use Cloves insteed of Vainillas is a ridiculous mockage and hurtful to several complexions in Chocolota Chacanguarica Pumagua or Achiotl as it is called by Hernandez or Achiote as it is usually called Mr. Gage calls it Achiotte is called by Oviedo and Clusius Bixa by the Natives of Brasile Vrucu and Roucou in the Description of the Antilles It is a Tree that grows every where in the West-Indies without cultivation â—t is regarded as well for its use in Painting as Physick It is a Tree of indifferent bigness leaved somewhat like to an Elm after it hath flowred which Flower hath scarce any sensible smell the fruit grows out in a â—od containing thirty or fourty grains which grains before they ripen to an hardness yield a juice of a pure Vermilion colour out of these grains either ripe or unripe is the Achiote so called made by a way I shall not repeat yet in the making of it up there is so great a difference that it is very considerable some having been purged to death others thrown into Fluxes by mixing Achiote not rightly prepared in Chocolata which hath occasioned some to speak against its being put into it But it is not by that Character that the good Achiote must be censured for if rightly prepared it is with very good effect mixed with meats in the Indies to meliorate their taste and colour and smell too And in Chocolata it produceth all these effects if put in a due proportion and makes it to be drunk more safely and with lesse nauseousness it makes it also to purify the Blood more and to strengthen the inward parts In Brasile the Achiote grains being duely prepared into Cakes are mix'd in an indefinite proportion with a dish of Carima which is made of Tipioca and giveâ— against Poysons or other Distempers promiscuously It strengthens the Stomach stoppeth Fluxes and being mixed with agreeable Juleps allayeth Feverish heats It is cold and dry and moderately adstringent Having given you this testimony of it from the learned Piso who interested not himself much in the digesting Plants into several Degrees according to their first Qualities but consulted unquestionable Experience I shall now represent the several Characters of this Achiote given by Spaniards and such as lived in the Indies The Spanish Doctor Ferdinandez doth thus Character it in his first Book Sect. 1. Chap. 14. Estre se hase de la semilla de un arbol cosida Yes frio en tercero grado con alguna adstriccion Mitiga la sed y masclado con el agua templaâ— lis calenturas ardientes y cura la dysenteria de humores colericos Da gusto y sabor y olâ—r al Chocolate y le hase mas frescâ— de mas de que ajuda a la digestion y no solo se mescla para color al Chocolate si no por que engorda y annide sustento con la parte pingue y butirosa que es la que en el praevalese y siendo assi â—iene partes calientes como io son todas bas butirosas It is made of the grains of a Tree boiled It is cold in the third Degree with some adstriction It allaies the Thirst and being mixed with Water it tempers the burning-Fever and cures the Bloody-flux occasioned by Choler It gives a taste relish and colour to Chocolata and makes it more brisk besides it helps digestion nor is it mixed with the Chocolata for the colour's sake alone but also because it fattens and encreaseth its nourishment with its fat and butyrous parts which prevail in it and being so it must needs have hot parts in it as have all butyrous things With this agrees the Mexican Herbal lib. 3. cap. 41. Frigida est ordine tertio nonnullam siccitatem adstrictionémque participat Extinguit epotum aut admotum â—ebrientium incendia opitulatur Dysenteriis repellÃtque tumores praeter naturam quo fit ut Epithematis frigorificis Potionibus seu Iulapiis quibusvis infrigidantibus cibariis Medicamentis misceri perquà m commodè possit Additur semen Chocoatl id est Chocolatae refrigerii gratiâ commendandÃque saporis atque coloris Dentium doloris è calida causa ortâ—s lenit corroborat evocat urinam sitim extinguit accroci apud aliquas gentes gerit vicem Adstringit nonnihil ideóque cum resina permixtum medetur scabiei atque ulceribus ventriculum corroborat fluxum alvi cohibet lac auget permixtum crustis Cacaoatl id est Chocolatae quem reddit innoxium quâcunque mensurâ bibatur ejus siquidem gratiâ facilè ac citra satietatis incommodum solet concoqui i. e It is cold in the third Degree and participates of some adstriction as well as dryness Being given inwardly or outwardly applied it allays Feverish distempers it helpeth the Bloody-flux and repels praeternatural Tumours for this cause it may be mixed in cooling Epithemes Julips or any food or Physick used to cool It is mixed with Chocolata to cool as well as to embitter the taste and colour It helpeth the Tooth-ach ariâ—ing from hot causes it strengthens the Gums it provokes Urine it quencheth Thirst and with some Natâ—ons it is used instead of Saffron It is somewhat adstringent and therefore being mix'd with Rosin it cureth the Itch and Ulcers it strengthens the Stomach stoppeth the Fluxes of the belly it encreaseth Milk being mix'd in Chocolata which last drink it renders very innocent in how great quantity soever it be drunk for by reason of the mixture of Achiote it is drunk down easily and without any ensuing nauseousness of the Stomach Io.
offend mine yet I fear that neither the adstringent bitterness of the Cacao-paste which alone I drunk nor the aid of Achiote Sugar and Spices which may loose their virtue by boiling and are not used by the Indians will render it supportable to tender Stomachs so exceeding unctuous is the broth or Drink But the most ordinary way is to warm the water very hot and then to poure out half the cup-full that you mean to drink and to put into it a Tablet or two or as much as will thicken reasonably the water and then grind it well with a Molinet and when it is well ground and risen well to a scum to fill up the cup with hot water and so drink it by sups having sweetened it with Sugar and to eat it with a little Conserve or Maple-bread steeped into the Chocolatte Of this last way Mr. Gage saith not only that it is the most used but that certainly it doth no harm and he recommends it to the practise of the English he gives no reason why the Chocolata may not be milled with all but a part of the hot water nor do I apprehend any except that the vessel in which it is made may be so little as that it may not be able to contain the whole liquour to be milled and prepared for it must be done in a pretty deep vessel that it may have room to dash about the sides without flying out or running over as it is mill'd Otherwise I think no man will believe that there can be so equal and due commixture in the Chocolata-drink if one half only be mill'd and the other half of water poured to it as if the whole were milled together and consequently it cannot be so good Wherefore the way now used at Sevil seems more rational whereby it is thus made The Chocolata-cake in a due proportion that is in my Chocolata one ounce of Paste two ounces of Sugar and eight of Water is dissolved in hot water it never boiling at the fire after the Chocolata is put in because say they it will by boiling grow sowrish or be so depraved as to subvert the Stomach Then it is well milled that it may grow frothy and fatty then it is powred out into Xicharas or Cups and so drunk hot They give a special Caution that after it hath been once milled if it cool again it is not to be heated and mill'd a second time and so drunk Because they say it corrupts and sowres and herein they avouch their Experience and desire no reason may be urged against it This Caution being given concerning the best Spanish Chocolata and which most resembleth mine I could not omit and I am sure either it is not true though we finde a difference in broths when twice heated or it must arise from some Ingredient I suppose the Vaynillas and not from the Cacao the simple paste whereof I took and mill'd and kept it several days and heated it again and it was neither sowre nor offensive to my Stomach and I kept it three days longer and then heated it milled it and tasted it and it varyed not its relish but was inoffensive and free from sowrishness I boiled some of mine and drunk it cold unmilled without annoyance and I know a Lady that with success boiled it twice Here in England we are not content with the plain Spanish way of mixing Chocolata with water but they either use milk alone or half milk and half conduit-water or else thicken the water if they mix no milk with it with one or more eggs put in entire or yolks only into the water or where milk is mingled with the water In which way as it is sold in the Chocolata-houses there are these inconveniences if it be done with milk it is natural for milk being hot and standing so to cast up a Scum and if it cool it creams so that if the Chocolata be kept after it is milled and not immediatly drunk either upon your second milling it you must cast away the scum or cream if it stand cold or mill it into the Dâ—ink the former course weâ—â—ens it by casting away also the flower 〈◊〉 cream of the Chocolata and the latter renders it unpleasant And as to the mixture of eggs if they be put in with the yolks and whiteâ— and suffered to stand the whiteâ— will harden and disgrace the Chocolataâ— but if only the yolks be put in and well milled I have tryed them so by not only letting the Chocolata stand hot before the fire but even to boil it again and mill it and let it again stand for several hours before the fire and I have not perceived it to vary the taste or to embody into any thicker consistence then before it had only I observed that it did not yield so much cream or scarce any on the top nor such visible discoveries of fattiness as it would have done otherwisâ— and the setling at the bottom which upon refrigeration seemed as great ☞ as if no egg had been mix'd with it though the decoction or water were thicker much by reason of the additional yolk did not carry so much unctuousness being tasted as did those other setlings which I had tryed without commixing any egg with them either only once milling or boiling them also From whence I leave it to the more mature consideration of others to determine whether the commixture of an egg be good since it seems to hinder the dissolution of the Cacao into oily or unctuous parts and whether it may not produce a like effect in the 〈◊〉 as it does in the Pipkin Concoction being but a sort of Elixation and so impede the nourishment expected from the Chocolata it being oftentimes as true Quae prodesse queant singula juncta nocent as that other Saying Et quae non prosunt singula juncta juvant But these Experiments were made with the simple paste of the Cacao-nut and not with compound Chocolata In Spain to Cholerick constitutions and where there is any extraordinary heat or inflammation of the Liver or Kidniâ—â— I find that there is a more milde and temperate way of Chocolata then is usual prepared or else the usual one is diluted with Endive or Scorsonera water and where Phlegm and Crudities abound there it is prescribed with the water of Radishes Fennel or Carduus Benedictus which say they though some in England protest against it vary not the taste but encrease its virtue It is given thus by way of alteration as are other alteratives general Medicines being premised and every sixth day there is either another gentle purge given or the Chocolata is then dissolved in an infusion of Mechoacan or the like In the Winter it is drunk hot being given to open Obstructions and in the Spring it is drunk in a more moderate temper after it they prescribe Exercise for an hour or half an hour which must be moderate and this course is continued thirty or at least
twenty days or indefinitely till they be well which they will soon know the pale recovering their colour and the short-breathed their winde the Vrine amending its colour and consistence and all Symptoms either mitigating or ceasing But if the Obstructions be inveterate and too difficult to be overcome by this method then they prescribe every day half a dram of Rhubarb trochiscated to be mix'd with the Chocolata or of Madder-root or a dram of Steel prepared And this is the Spanish practise and from which Anton. Colmenero de Ledesma varyeth not much as he that shall compare him with my Intelligence will easily see There is another way of drinking Chocolatte cold which the Indians use at Feasts to refresh themselves as it is made after this manner The Chocolatte which is made with none or very few Ingredients being dissolved in cold water with the Molinet they take off the Scum or â—rassie part which riseth in great quantity especially when the Cacao is older and more putrefied the Scum they lay aside in a little dish by it self and then put Sugar into that part whence the Scum was taken and then poure it from on high into the Scum and so drink it cold And this Drink is so cold that it agreeth not with all Mens Stomachs for by Experience it hath been found that it doth hurt by causing pains in the Stomach especially to Women I should except against this way not for the bare coldness only though Piso and Aâ—ton Colmenero de Ledesma agree with Mr. Gage in the noxious effects of Chocolata drunk thus cold but because of its nauseousness for I found it to offend my Stomach with its coldness more then if it had been pure water and the nauseousness was insupportable which did arise from the fat of the Nut dissolving in the water and rendring it as odious as would be fat Mutton-broth drunk cold The Spaniards drink not the simple Cacao-paste dissolved in cold water as do the Indians but as that Nation is inclined to drink Snow Snow-water and Drinks refrigerated in Snow which are more authenticated by custom and iodisyncraâ—ie then reason so they refrigerate and freeze their solution of Chocolata richly Aromatised with Snow and so the Gallants especially the Ladies drink it reputing the Spice a sufficient corrective of the coldness and nauseousness of it I do believe that it is not this way so nauseous as the Indian way but I cannot believe it wholesom since so cold Drinks before the heat of the Spice be actuated by the Stomach do often make a fatal and irrecoverable impression upon the Stomach it self and Lungs and Heart and Womb and is generally not universally condemned even as poyson by the Spanish Physicians however that their authority is suspended by a contrary practise received in Madrid and Sevil. As to the time of taking it it is held by the Spaniards the most fit time to take it in the Morning and Supper being digested and the Body fresh and the Stomach empty to receive it or else it may be taken in the morning not upon the first stirring and before any repaste but after the taking of some other sustenance in a moderate quantity for then it seems most acceptable to the Stomach and most necessary for the undergoing the employments of the subsequent day Besides crude and indigested or depraved reliques of the last night's meal are hereby either reduced under a second concoction for the use of the body or outed the Stomach for its ease The Chocolata it self also is much more easily concocted and distributed whilst there is not any thing else in the Stomach to delay or retard its progress into the Veins and vasa chylifera its influence is then more sensible to dissipate any noxious Vapours Which Effects are to be supposed to follow if it be taken with moderation being neither of too thick a consistence nor too large a quantity Some there are who have taken it usually instead of Wine which is their table-drink in Spain at Diner and Supper but this hath not been sufficiently experimented that it may be vulgarly permitted since perhaps custom or individual constitution or a moderation in Diet which helps all errours but is not vulgarly to be presumed on may render it only innoxious to them But it is certain that it may freely be taken four or five hours after Diner Concoction being then finished and the meat not only dissolved in but distributed in great part out of the Stomach And so it will enable them to persist till night or if they eat no suppers the day following Nor need any fear that being taken at such a time as four or five a clock it will prejudice his sleep the night following for such accidents befall only those who take it late at night and not so early as it is here recommended or where the Chocolata is too hot of Spices so as that it begets too great an agitation and servour in the blood which may befall any body or where the body is of so hot and Cholerick a temper that it cannot bear Chocolata moderately spiced or compounded with milde Spices But in Phlegmatique Persons and such as are aged it is observed that it causeth them to rest excellently well They further caution us If we be dry or in Summer not to drink Chocolata till we have first drunk some cold water which is instead of Beer to them in Spain when they drink not Wine lest Chocolata as it is now compounded with Spices and Sugar should produce or augment our thirst And after we have drunk Chocolata they strictly prohibit all manner of Drink for whether Water or Wine be drunk after it there do frequently ensue very dangerous Diseases and Symptomes A very observing Spanish Physician assures us upon his own knowledg some have been thereby immediatly seised with a vertiginous indisposition and giddiness others with a Cholera very many have falleâ— speechless It is also prohibited by them as hurtfull in Fevers because prepared otherwise then by the Indians as augmenting the Disease So they prohibit it in Fluxes by reason of its lubricity to encrease the already excessive laxity of the guts yet they confess it hath sometimes been beneficial in Lienteries But in conclusion my Author tells us that It is a certain thing that however these Cautions may seem rational yet it is not observable how the drinking of Chocolata can be reduced under any certain model of Rules in the taking it since it is become so universally used in Spain ☜ that it is taken at all hours and times it is the delight of the Masters the sustenance of Families and the grand entertainment of Friends quia jam sine illo vitam nesciunt because they know not how to live without it There is another way of taking it made into Lozenges or shaped into Almonds with Orange-flower water Amber-grise Sugar and the white of an Egg gum-dragant and