much to the recovery being given in water not mix'd with milk or eggs but given the Spanish and Indian fashion and the water it self being such a water as will not stay in the Stomach but pass immediatly into the Blood and void it self by Vrine To confirm my Opinion do but consider the Nature of the Cacao-nut and paste it is very nourishing it allays vapours and ebullitions of the Blood it is not apt to sowre as gruels and broths of meat or China-root instantly will and it keepeth the Body soluble and moderately purges by Vrine All which Indications we are to aim at in the Cure of this Disease It also corroborateth the Stomach by its adstriction it allayeth the sowr Humour by its unctuousness which floats not on the top but accurately commixes with the liquour and its bitterishness then which there is not any thing else more gratefull to a weak Stomach Add to these Considerations that Chocolata is a liquour and that the Cure of Hypochondriacks depends upon humectation seeing that Melancholici si bene humectantur bene curantur and there is not any thing can occasion a scruple but the addition of Sugar which how far it may agree is to be determined by Experience since otherwise it will be condemned by Reason But should it not agree the Cacao-paste may be prepared for Persons deeply Hypochondriacal without Sugar or Spice except a few Anise-seeds and powder of Santals or Sassafras and dissolved upon occasion together with some Bezâ—ar or any other Stomachical Preparation of Antimony or whatever will saturate that esurive Humour upon the Stomach and open Obstructions Being thus given I cannot imagine but it must be a very effectual contrivance for the desperate Hypochondriacks being regulated by a diligent Physician and an observant Patient without which it is impossible to effect that Cure which is tedious and requires circumspection and variety of remedies to carry it on As for those who are afflicted with that Distemper I suppose a milde sort oâ— Chocolata with a mixture of Spice and Sugar may agree very well The other Virtues of Chocolata in Hysterical fits and Asthmas or Consumptions I I have not time to inâ—ist on from what I have said and shall say about the way of using Chocolata any Physician will be able to collect how it is or may be used in such like Cases Concerning the variety of Ingredients in Chocolata and the several frauds in making it up I have already spoken so much as I need not to enlarge again only as to the Addition of Achiote I hear the use of it is condemned by one of our most learned Physicians as being prejudicial to the Head I could never yet hear what Motives he had for that Opinion of his for in all the Indian Writers I do not remember any such thing I have already represented their Testimony and that is the voice of Experience in Comprobation of the use of it I never found any inconvenience by the use of Achiote which is an Ingredient in my ordinary and royal Chocolata nor do I hear of any that does I would rather adventure to recommend the use of Achiote since without heating it doth powerfully attenuate all gross Humours and the Blood of us Northern People is more gross and less fusile then that of the Spaniards or Indians and we are prone to Coughs stoppings of the Chest and Asthmas by reason of our gross feeding and the thickness of the Blood whereby it is apt to obstruct the Lungs and since it doth make the Chocolata to agree better with the Stomach then otherwise it would I have faithfully declared already the judgment of several Writers concerning Achiote It is generally put into Chocolata by the Indians and Spaniards and Portugheses and that none should ever observe in it a particular repugnancy to the Brain or a quality that might give ground for such a surmise which I cannot by my taste is very strange and how probable the thing is let others judge Since the writing of the aforesaid Passage I have received the complaints of a fair Lady who thinks that taking of my common Chocolata with Achiote in it the Head-ach whereunto she is Naturally as well as by her condition of being with Childe prone is encreased and that it doth create a more then usual heat in her Face and Body and indeed I my self taking for sundry days of the same Chocolata found that taken in Paste or liquour it did cause in my Stomach and Body a greater and particular heat which before I never felt To finde out the cause of this Accident I examined the Person that made it up and I found he had varyed his Achiote and used a new parcel which to me seemed not so good which in the same weight did yield a deeper colour by farr and occasioned as I thought the aforesaid Case wâ—ich did not happen when I used another sort which to me seemed more pure then the last used But I did further observe that the Chocolata complained of did promote Expectoration beyond any other I ever took to eat or drank so that I conceive in Case of Asthmas and stuffings from Phlegm such a sort of Chocolata might agree well As to the heat of Achiote it self I could not perceive any more in the last then in the other nay I must profess I think that five Grains of the said Achiote taken by it self did not so much heat me nay it did not cause in me any sense of heat as did half a Dram of Chocolata-paste already mentioned yet in sixteen Ounces thereof there was but one Scruple And this Consideration puts me in mind of the Indian remark that Achiote though destitute almost of Taste and Smell doth amend the Taste and Smell which it may do as well as the heat of the other Ingredients And though it be not sensibly hot yet by its penetrancy and the great attenuating faculty it hath it may occasion some Distempers in the Head where the Blood is already so attenuated that it admits no further Rare faction without indisposing the Head which according to Mechanical Philosophy must needs receive a greater afflux of Blood the thinner it is In the choice of Achiote I can only give this Rule that it be solid not soft rather pale-red then deep free from seeds or greenish hulls within and not musty As to the quantity to be put in I finde it is impossible to determine the proportion by reason of the variety of Achiote but take the Indian Rule recorded in Ledesma to put in as much as will colour it and that not deeply and adhere not to what was prescribed me viz. half a Dram in each Pound which though it proved well in the first Essay I made for His Majesty the Achiote being singular it hath since displeased me The way in which I choose to take Chocolata is sometimes to mix two parts of water with one of milk and to dissolve the Chocolate-paste therein
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-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
the disputes of others being content to have proved the universal acception of this drink amongst the most sober and wisest of meâ— CHAP. II. Concerâ—ing the Composition of Chocolata BEing now to speak more particularly of Chocolata to prevent ambiguities I must tell my Reader that however I have in the foregoing Chapter spoken of Chocolata as a drink accordingly as it is ordinarily mentioned by Writers and in vulgar speech yet now I shall speak of it as a paste or mass made into cakes lumps rouls lozenges or enclosed in boxes as it pleaseth the worker to make it up which is to be dissolved in the water and so makes but a part of the potion or drink yet is ordinarily termed Chocolata though not without some impropriety of language if we credit the already-mentioned derivation of Chocolatl The Indians as they in all things almost affect a simplicity so in the making of Chocolata they did not multiply Ingredients and cared rather to preserve their health then to indulge their palates of which they have been so sollicitous that had not the Spanish luxury and curiosity varyed its composition with multiplicity of mixtures either we had never been acquainted with this drink or we must have been contented to be treated as the invincible Cortez was by Motezuma the last and most illustrious King of Mexico Bernaldus del Castillo one of Cortez his Souldiers relating his own exploits under that famous General in his Chapter entitulâ—â— De la manera y persona del grande Motezuma y de quan gran Sennor era makes report of the stately Banquets of that Prince and adds Trianle frutas de todas quantas avia en la tierra mas no comia si no mui poca y de quando en quando trajan unas como copas de oro fino con cierta bebida hucha del mesmo Cacao que dessian era para tenâ—r acceso con mugeres en este lengua se habla enforces no miravamos en ello mas lo que yo vi qua trajan sobra cinguenta jarrâ—s grandes hechos de buen Cacao con su espuma y de lo que bebia y las mugeres le servian al beber con graâ— ocato â— al tiempo del comer le assistian algunos Indios truanes que le desian gracias y otros que le cantavan y bailavan por que el Motezuma era mui afficionado a placer y aquellos mandaua dar de los relieves y jarros de Cacao That is They brought in the several sorts of fruits which they had in their Country but they eat but a very little of them and that but leasurely and at intervals they brought some in cups of fine gold with a certain drink made of the Cacao it self which they said was effectual to provoke lustful desires towards women as they told us in their language in which we admired nothâ—ng more then that they brought in above fifty great jarrs made of good Cacao with its froth and that they drank it the women serving them with a great deal of respect and when he Motezuma did eat several Indians stood by him wâ—â—â—h gave thanks and others which sung to him and danced before him Motezuma being much given to pleasure and he commanded the reliques of his feast to be given away and the jarrs of Cacao And a little after he saies Luego comien los de su guarda y otros muchos sus serviciales de casa y me parese que sacavan sobre mil platos de aquellos manjares que dicho tengo pues jarros de Cacao con su espuma como entre Mexicanos se â—ase mas de dos mil y fruta infinita That is Afterwards his Guards and other servants did eat and I think they had above a thousand dishes of the aforesaid delicacies After which they had brought to them jarrs of Cacao with its froth according to the Mexican fashion to the number of two thousand at least besides an infinity of fruit Here is no mention of any thing but jarrs of Cacao together with their froth which could not have frothed so had they not been preparations of Cacao nuts made into a paste and reserved in cakes for the sudden use of a thousand cups they were dissolved in water and frothed by agitation of the molinet for without such agitation the Cacao would not froth nor would it continue in a froth unless that some of the meal of Indian wheat or Maiz made into Atolle were mixed with it And this I find to have been the first composition of Chocolata In acute diseases to aâ—ay heat and fervour and in hot distempers of the liver they gave the Cacao nut punned and dissolved in water without any other mixture In case of the bloody flux they mixed the said nuts with a gumm called Olli and so cured them miraculously Nor did they acquiesce in simple preparations of the said Cacao nut they took of Cacao nuts and a grain called Pocholt of each an equal quantity grinded them together in equal proportions and when they used it they took that paste and dissolved in an earthen vessel and agitated it with a molenillo till the more oily parts and fatty did swim on top then did they take of the said unctuous part and put to the rest some meal of Indian wheat and having reduced it to a potable liquor they did remix the oyl or fat taken off before and so drunk it luke-warm And this is the Chocolatl of which Hernandez speaks and calls peculiarly by that name in his Chapter concerning Cacaua Quahuitl or the Cacao-tree And that this was the primitive Chocolata seems evident from what Benzonus says who lived there amongst the first Planters He travailed through the Kingdom of Nicaragua and observed that they made a certain cooling-drink of the Cacao nuts they grinded thâ— nuts into a paste and when they used it they dissolved it â—eing pouder'd and milled it tempering it by little and little with water in an Indian cup and sometimes they added a littlâ— pepper and this was their ordinary drink which they did drink themselves and â—ave to wearied travellers as well as to the sick This they offered to Benzonus and when he with an abhorrency refused such a drench they admired and laughed at him But certainly it was not improved to any deliciousness of tast since he saith it was bitterish and that it was more fit to be hogs-wash then drink for rational men The same may be collected from Acosta who saith that The chiefest use the Indians make of Cacao is in a drink which they call Chocholate whereof they make great account in that countrey foolishly and without reason for it is loathsom to such as are not acquainted with it having a skum or froth that is very unpleasant to taste if they be not very well conceited thereof yet it is a drink very much esteemed amongst the Indians
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
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.
gathered and that upon Mats not Boards for the Mat dries up the sweat better then the Board in which whilst they soak the Phlâ—gm is re-imbibed by the Nut and the oily parts not sufficiently exalted and digested the Nuts are not so good as that we should expect any great excellency from the Chocolata 2. That there ought to be a great care in the Picking Garbling and preparing the Nuts It is not sufficient to choose Nuts of a good age and growth old but not decayed for these are most oily nor to cast away such as are apparently corrupt but having dryed them in the doing of which beware you burn them not and so imbitter the Composition you must hull them and then pick them casting away all the corrupt and musty ones for if you be not carefull herein the Chocolata will in a little time shew it self to be musty and decay I had once some new Chocolata shew'd me to ask my judgment of and it seemed to me then very pleasant and good within a fortnight after I tasted it and it was good for nothing so musty was it after it had fermented a while by standing yet was it carefully kept It is usual amongst the Chocolata-makers to repute those Nuts good and sound which are blackish and not musty nor rotten though upon breaking of the Nut in the several divisions and parts there be in intercurrent hoariness which will vanish at their drying but I suppose all rational Persons will grant that that is a tendency to corruption and any curious Observer will distinguish those Nuts from such as have not the least inchoated decay by the taste After all this garbling they must be well beaten to powder and finely searced or else the Paste will not be good for although in the grinding they will mix and melt into a Paste yet will not that Paste consist of so small Particles as when searced and consequently not dissolve so well in the Potion as otherwise it would And after it is thus prepar'd in the grinding of it there is much of Art I have already excepted against the making it in a Mortar or on an Iron Table the only way to moderate the heat and to preserve it from discolouring by the iron or running too fast into oyl whereby it is made unfit to keep and also some parts unequally dissolve the Spices mix not well and it is precipitated in the making up before a sufficient incorporation and never ferments right nor attains its perfect gust I have already spoken concerning the way of grinding the Spice rather then beating it and that with this caution that the Spice be not only ground singly over but after ground all together that so the several parts of each individual Spice and Ingredient may operate upon the subtiliating of the other besides that hereby each is more exquisitely commix'd then by any other ☞ way can be contrived I am of the mind that if there be any setling at all in the Chocolata Drink it is either because the Nut is faulty being ill-cured unripe new or corrupt and so its parts dissolve not into oyl but sever themselves or because it is not well beaten and searced or made up too hot and so hastily dispatched because some parts dissolve too much and others not at all or the Spice is not well beaten and incorporated or by reason of some other Mixture for otherwise there will not be any Setling at all nor any such terrestrious parts as some besides the Spaniards do imagine This is to be understood of the Chocolata being hot for if it cool the pores of the water being fill'd with a sufficient proportion of Particles do precipitate the superfluous Corpuscles to the bottom as do other liquors in the like case To prevent this discovery the Chocolata-sellers mix an egg or two or more with it that so the indissolved or indissoluble parts may be supported by the grossness of the Liquor The like is to be seen when it is prepared with Milk which is a thicker body and will bear more and greater parts innatant then water yet it is to be noted that let the best Chocolata be prepared milled and unmilled and there will be a great discrepancy in the innatant supernatant and subsiding bodies but in good Chocolata either there is no setling or remanence in the bottom of the Cup you drink if it be indifferent warm or if there be it is not black but reddish and oily and easie to be digested the contrary whereof is observable in the ordinary and Spanish as well as Dutch Chocolata Since that the effect of Chocolata as to its nourishing nature depends upon the Cacâ—o nut that Chocolata is best which hath most of it all things else corresponding and that worst as to the aforesaid end which hath least of it though that be endeavour'd to be supplyed by Almonds Filberts Pistaches these last being more stopping less nourishing and not dissolving in the Potion proportionably to the other Since that the Paste must be well work'd and that the excellency of Chocolata lies in that the parts of the Cacao nut being not too much dissolved into an oyl for then it will not keep nor endure the heat of your hand or pocket especialy in Cakes but melt and yet must be kept in a box or place temperately hot and free from moisture or it will mould and decay or in that the said parts of the Cacao nut be sufficiently dissolved for otherwise it will keep neither in England without care nor ferment well and attain its delicate taste but yield a setling Upon this score it seems to follow that neither the putting in of Orange-flower water nor Chymical oyls into it at its making up is good for it hiâ—ders it in the working to be sufficiently dissolved or causeth it to dissolve too much nor could I ever yet see any with those oyls in it which would keep or carry well especially in Cakes but thsi is not the only reason against them For if to Stomachs that are in perfect health and of a good temper it be prejudicial to give things too hot and qualified rather to dissipate then continue the vigour of the Spirits and such are Chymical oyls and hot Spices in a great proportion hence we see cold distempers as the green-sickness rheums and the like to follow upon eating much thereof as Piso observes that eating of Nutmeg however much cryed up in distempers of the Memory and Brain did introduce to his knowledge forgetfulness dulness and sleepiness The like is observed concerning Nutmeg and Mace in Iava by Bontius and Rondeletius somewhere tells us that in France the Maids drink Ginger to make them look pale of which I once saw the Experiment in a fair Patient which recovered upon the discontinuing of what she drunk by advise as Physick for a cold Stomach But however that I do not approve of the putting in of those East-Indy Spices yet I
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
say there is not any thing in Art that equals the white of an Egg mix'd with some temperate Cordial emulsion or beaten with rose-Rose-water and mix'd cautelously to prevent Curdling with some streined water-gruel or the like and sweetened with Sugar And being prepared this last way or with Rose-mary-Posset-drink it is an excellent thing for any Cold or for a weary Traveller causing him to rest well and reliveing his strength so as to diminish or take away all wearisomness occasion'd by hard travail Others will be the more inclined to this Opinion not by tryal but common reason it being the White out of which the Chick is shaped the Yolk being entire when the Chick is almost ready to hatch It is an albugineoâ—s substance out of which we are created and fed in the Womb and the Seed ejected hath a more then ordinary resemblance in its colour consistence and spirituascency to the white of an Egg. Besides it is the white of an Egg which makes the bread cakes c. to be light your Yolks commix'd make them heavy the one allays all acrimony of Humours the other encreases Choler and augments the evil Humours in the Stomach by being easily depraved In summ I think it can hardly be imagined that the Yolks of Eggs be good food since the taste of them upon the Stomach after the eating of other meat is a sign of ill-digestion And indeed the taking of the aforesaid Preparation of Whites of Eggs is never more necessary then after those amorous conflicts when the Nerves and Blood are weakened by the late effusion and the vigorous performance of those Venereal Exercises in which the whole body suffers a very great agitation and the Sinews a tension answerable to the stretching of a chord the whole Blood boils and the Brain labours proportionable to the passion of the Inamorato who if he be not of too hot a Complexion exchangeth those transports and pleasing languours which conclude these dalliances for a delightful slumber but if he be of a more Cholerick or hot constitution the disorders of his Blood survive his delights and diminish them much by rendring him Melancholy or peevish and either immediatly or not long after creating him an head-acâ— which is not allayed but by the night's repose To prevent this our wise fore-fathers in England made it a custom each Wedding-night to provide a Sack-posset with Eggs for the Bride-groom to eat of going to bed and also to stand by him all night that he might eat of it as often as he pleased to recruit his Spirits I should recommend the like practise either mixing his whites of Eggs with gruel or Sack or Sack-posset-drink and omitting or lessening the yolks to every Lover as often as he is engaged taking of it immediatly after he hath ended his sport whereby he will provided it be not too thick prevent the inconveniences of the past conflict and be enabled for another As for Chocolata how effectual it may be herein I understand not by experience but since the most amorous Nations in the World drink it it is very possible it may conduce thereunto much If it be the design of Physick to preserve Nature and free her from superfluous collections of Humours and nothing doth that better then Chocolata as far as Venery is but the Collection and â—jection of a superfluity gathered in and about the Testicles without doubt Physicians cannot decline to recommend it It chears the Spirits begets good Blood and opens all the Emunctories of the body and passages by which Nature designs the ejectment of some particular Humour And this is to be understood of the Cacao-paste and milde Compositions of Chocolata in which there is nothing that doth beget a particular fusion in the Blood and a titillation inclining a man to Venery beyond the natural disposition of the Person What I have hitherto spoken had no further intent then the support of that Nature which God gave us and which as I have shewed out of St. Austin hath been much impaired by the fall I know many will be apt to censure this Discourse as tending to sensuality and the upholding carnal lusts and desires but I suppose the more prudent will acquit me from any such imputation since that is not the use but abuse of Chocolata and is common to it with all other meats of good nourishment against which I do not hear them so to declaim as to interdict them totally I am not ignorant that there is a Doctrine of Mortification and that we ought to suppress carnal lusts but I am to learn that this is to be understood literally and that we must geld our selves like Origen or Chastise our selves with the Papists and not understand all those Doctrines spiritually and like good Protestants defying the exercises falsely called Spiritual by the Popish Friers and Iesuits who practise this literal Mortification whilest we imagine that carnality may be subdued by other means captivating the Vnderstanding into the obedience of Faith and subduing our wills not breaking our backs and denying our lusts whilst we preserve a Nature and temperament given us by God I expect the greatest censure from those who disclaim Fasting-days and Ember-weeks who keep Lent with Capon Sack and roast Beef which is their Luxury and what they condemn in others is but a different and less solid Luxury then what they pursue I am not any way disposed to instruct Men in evil and would not seem to encourage them therein and to evidence this I shall now speak concerning the more compound Chocolatas which are made or used on purpose to augment Venereous inclinations The things usually designed to exstimulate Nature to excessive Venery are very hot and Aromatical and which also carry with them an acrimony or saltness wherewith they continually excite Nature which being incessantly provoked thereby casts out whatever is next whether it be well or ill-concocted Seed or Phlegm or Blood impregnated with a saliness It is not heat alone in meats that doth it for the effect of Cloves Cinnamom and Nutmegs or Mace is not equivalent to that of Pepper or Salt and Salt-meats These last operate by introducing a momentany or lasting saltness or acrimony in the Blood which as it circulates thorough each part makes different impressions according to the different Nature or indisposition of the part And if any disease introduce any acrimony or Saltness into the Blood the same Persons will be much inclined to Venery thus those who have the Itch and Leprosie as also the Melancholick Persons are exceeding amorous however the last bear those evacuations very ill and the lying long and on soft beds and living idly doth render Men lascivious but these are not natural but morbid inclinations and therefore are neither executed with that activity nor hath their seed that relish or gusto in the Womb of the Feminine consort that attends vigorous and active Men. For ease and idleness retard transpiration and those Humours
with an Egg for I care not for milk alone But most usually I take three quarters of a pint of good Conduit water well-boil'd and dissolve in it stirring it frequently with a Spoon one ounce of Chocolata and two ounces of fine Sugar having let it stand before a moderate fire to dissolve when it is so dissolved as that the liquour seems very fatty with a yellow fat and that there sticks to the spoon an undescribable unctuousness or oyliness however that the Chocolata be not half dissolved but that a great part of it still swim in great stakes and small parcels up and down I proceed to mill it very well and then set it to the fire again to dissolve more perfectly and having let it stand a good while even till it be ready to boil of near upon it I mill it once more with great diligence and then either drink it alone which is the common Indian and Spanish way or putting in one Egg white and yolk without ever beating it before breaking it into the water and immediatly milling it very hard sometimes playing the molinet and that most at first especially to break the Egg and hinder its curdling on the top of the water and sometimes at the bottom And I have observed that by this course the Chocolata when taken without an Egg becomes better tasted then otherwise it would and if an Egg be put in the Chocolata is farr better dissolved and swims with a greater oyl or fat on the top then if the Egg were put in sooner and never so long milled Nor doth the Egg harden or curdle if dropped in whole without beating but dissolve better if nimbly milled and that towards the top where the Egg floats at first then if it were beaten much and put in afterwards by little and little I prepare no more at once then I drink that time not that I feel any offensiveness in what hath been once heated and cold before it be heated again for me but because I finde an observable difference betwixt fresh and old Chocolata-liquour the Spice evaporating their more subtile parts But the discrepancy is not such as is in Pottage or Gruel c. twice heated nor do I know what reason the Spaniards have to prohibite so severely the use of Chocolata twice heated I drink it moderately hot and dip a piece of diet-bread or wig c. in it I drink it without proportion but commonly half a pint or more and this I do twice or thrice in a day nay before Diner with a sensible refreshment finding it to keâ—p my body soluble enough as I could wish though otherwise I am inclined to costiveness Sometimes I put in a spoonful of Orange flower-flower-water which gives it a most excellent taste if the water be good sometimes if I am faint with business I put in a glass of good Canary or Malaga-Sack in which I imitate the antient Romans who did usually mix their old and well-bodyed Wines with hot water which in several houses call'd Thermopolia was kept always ready for entertainment And this practise of theirs is asserted by Campanella for the most wholesom way of drinking Wine And Costaeus tells us that for a weak Stomach there is not any thing more profitable then a draught of hot Wine which I have known experimented in England with good success not only in the case mentioned but in sundry Atrophies and Consumptions And Vallesius tells us that however it be Proverbially said that Wine is the old Man's milk yet is it indigestible if it be not first heated I have sometimes Aromatised it with a few Sassafrass Chips not unpleasingly They who would put in emulsions or the like must dissolve and mix the Chocolata with less water and having mill'd it well then put in the emulsion c. and mill it again As to the times whereat I take it I observe none particularly besides the taking of it in a Morning and Evening sometimes sooner sometimes later as occasion permits Nor do I regard the quantity taking frequently a pint but usually above half a pint eating tosted wig or diet-bread often with it What it may do to others I know not but I never found my sleep retarded or distuâ—bed by it it is possible some may finde it otherwise for if Sleep be a relaxation of the Nerves and vacation from sense thorough wearisomness of the Organs what corroborates Nature and dispells wearisomness may without its disparagement retard sleep I have often wonder'd to hear upon how inconsiderable causes many complain though they have no occasion to sleep yet if they sleep not at certain times they entertain strange thoughts of their danger of sickness and condemn the occasion of it presently So if they eat not flesh at least once or twice a day they repute their Stomach to be lost and imagine they must dy not regarding that the end of food is to repair the defects of Nature and prevent its decay for the future and when we enjoy these ends we are not to be solicitous of any particular means further to procure what we already possess To Eat to Drink to Sleep were there no need thereof were folly and he makes Reason submit to Custom or Conceit who Eats Drinks or Sleeps when he is sensible there is no necessity of it and incurs by a superfluity dangers he would avoid Nizolius the great Ciceronian slept not of ten years others have watched longer as you may read in Heurnius without prejudice Several have never drunk and others have to avoid a Dropsie or the like for a long time refrain'd all Drink and done as well or better then others and the case of Rabbets Sheep and sundry Birds evidence the possibility of the Antient and Modern Relations in this case As for Eating except the Maid of Confolans recited by Citesius I can hardly credit any that have subsisted without that but without doubt a greater temperance might be practised therein then is used And upon the aforementioned Account some cry out upon Chocolata as if it destroyed their sleep others that taking it they can eat no Diner after it it preventing their appetite thereunto but would these people be pleased to think that Chocolata feeds more then their Diner of the loss of which they complain and that they are in no danger of dying by hunger whilest they fâ—ed hereon the formality of eating a seâ— Meal would not be insisted on I must profess I never could observe in my self any alteration of my Stomach by drinking Chocolata in a Morning and if any have it is because their Stomachs are weak and that their Diner would not digest well with them if they had it Is it not sufficient that Chocolata offends not their Stomach and that their Blood depurates it self upon the taking thereof by Sweat Vrine Stool and Expectoration Let them but consider how apt Meat is to corrupt on the Stomach how little it agrees with a
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