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
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-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
pasta en proportionada cantitâ—d de agua poco mas de medio quartillo y dos onsas de asucar una de Chocolate y cuesse en una olleta uno o dos hervores al fuego y le dan con un molinillo hasta llevantar espuma y quanto caliente se puede se bebe el que se bebe desta manera se tiene por mas sano no soi de parecer se tâ—me muchas vezes por que inquieta el cossimiento y carga el estomago de muchas crudesas El Cacao comido confitado por la tarde quieta el suenno des todâ— la nâ—che Solo es bueno para los Soldados quâ— estan de posta La mantera del Cacao es dâ— grande provecho para las inflammaciones y para qual quiera fuegos y quemaduras y sobre todo para el tiempo de las virvelas y serampion y ampollas y llagas securan untandose a menudo con a quel aceite para el principio aumento estado de la Erysipela es gran sedante y el major anodino para el dolor que causan sus costras y postillas para los labios abiertos y grietas de las manos y en elrostro para las enzias que manan sangre con dolor se les quita effectos bien contrarios pero mejor conocidos por la experientia That is in English as follows THe Cacao-nut is cold and dry in its temperament and thereby it hath parts adstringent wherewith it obstructs It is at this day the most rich Merchandize in the Indies and it is of so high an esteem that they settle by right of Primogeniture on their Eldest Sons Farms of Cacao which yield annually twelve thousand Duckets The Cacaonut is exceeding nourishing which makes People doubt concerning its particular temperament The Oyl that comes from it when it is boil'd is white and imbodies into Grains which seems rather to be a sort of butter it is to be extracted by roasting in a large earthen pot such as we bake meat in and it doth not well in a brass vessel The Nut is grinded in a Stone-Mortar with a Stone pestel both of them being hot and being made into a paste it is set on a Charcoal-fireâ— in a Pipkin and as it heats there rises up to the top the butter and an Oyl more red then the flame or fire of Charcoal both having but one taste In like manner it is roasted to make the Drink And as they grinde or beat it up in a Mortar they mix with the Paste some Anise-seeds Cinnamom and a few Cloves adding to three pounds of Cacao two ounces of Anise-seeds one of Cinnamom and half an ounce of Cloves with which they grind it on the Stone two or three times and then they put it into little boxes or they make little Cakes of one ounce-weight which is the proportion of Chocolata to make one draught This is the Royal Chocolata being the best and most wholesom and which is drunk by the Nobility and Persons of the best rank Others mix with it the flower of Maiz and in New-Spain they mix therewith the fine Powder of Bisket-bread but this sort of Chocolata laâ—ts not long to keep is not good but weak because the flower of Maiz which they put in is not boil'd and prepared and though the Maiz be prepared by roasting yet it yields but bad nourishment it begets Obstructions and a thousand Aches and Distempers In other parts they mix with the Cacao-paste some Achiote which serves to provoke Urine And the way of making their Chocolata-drink is this They scrape the Cacao-paste and dissolve it in a proportionate quantity of water to a little more then half a pint of water they put in two ounces of Sugar and one of the Paste of Cacao and they let it boil in a pot one or two woulms over the fire and then they mill it till it rise with a large froth they drink it as hot as they can possible and they that drink it so think it to be most wholesom And I am of the Opinion that it ought not to be drunk too often because it disturbs Concoction and loads the Stomach with many Crudities The Cacao-nut being made into Confects as Almond-confects are made being eaten at night makes Men to wake all night-long and is therefore good for Souldiers that are upon the Guard The Cacao-butter is excellently usefull in case of Inflammations and any scalds or burns and especially in the small-Pox and pustulous Tumours and eruptions from heat and Bruises they are cured by anointing therewith in the beginning encrease state or declination of the Erysipelas or St. Antonie's-fire It is a great cooler and allayer of pains created by Crusts or Scars upon Sores and Pimples and in chopped Lips and Hands and Face and Gums which bleed and are dolorous It produceth effects very various and contrary one to another which are best known by Experience An account of the Distillation of the Cacao-nut perform'd by Mr. Le Febure WE took eight Ounces of the Cacao-nut and without hulling them beat them to a gross powder and put them in a Retort we found the body so fix'd that with an ordinary Fire there came nothing over but a white liquour in a very small quantity so clear as water which we suppose to be the Phlegm Then we encreased the Fire to such an heat as if we had been to draw Spirit of Vitriol then there came over within the space of seventeen hours Operation first a Spirit that was as white as Milk in Vapours and whereas all other Spirits usually ascend in the Recipient these did descend and fall to the bottom and after that but with a great reverberating Fire such as he never put to any Vegetable there came over the Oyl which was red as blood but clear resembling any Tincture for clearness after it was cold it became thick like to the Oyl or Butter of Wax for consistence The Caput Mortuum weighed one ounce and seven drams of the Spirit there was about two ounces and the remainder Oyl three ounces and an half besides what was lost in filtrating and other contingencies Upon Separation the Spirit was as red as blood like to any exquisite Tincture of Santals however it were white in the first distilling which is to be attributed to its being commix'd in the distilling with the subsequent Oyl The Spirit was not very hot but exceeding penetrative and not unpleasant as to smell or taste as other Spirits drawn from blood or flesh are But however it had not any empyreuma nor had that odiousness which attends Spirits drawn from flesh yet had it an evident affinity but with a peculiar in mildness with flesh The Oyl was not very unpleasant but miraculously piercing the Volatile Salt of which there was a great quantity being unseparated and had an unexpressible Aromaticalness upon the tongue
Chocolata makers and Ladies to practise with as well as Physicians I thought it my duty to give publick notice hereof to the end that Physicians might be acquainted with the reason of the great discrepancy in Chocolata and that others might be cautioned against the following the particular preparations of several persons who have sophisticated and spoiled one of the most excellent and healthful drinks in the world It is true that Physicians say how in Alteratives there is little mistake in the dose or quantity but this respects their being given once or but for a short time and so these alterative Chocolatas being taken but once or seldomâ— if the Ingredients be not violent nor the body Cacochymical nor the season sickly may little endammage the sound and as little amend the sick But if they be often taken or constantly by way of repaste it is not to be doubted but how little error soever be or can be committed in the dose a great one will be committed in the continuance if either the body be healthful or possessed with a distemper not requiring or repugning to the additional Ingredients in the Chocolata And several have experienced the consequences of this variety of mixtures and uncertainty of compounding Chocolata for having taken Chocolata of Antwerp for Hypochondriacal distempers by using that of Spain they have instantly been molested with the Haemorrhoids Some having been troubled with a virulent Gonorrhaea and debilitated therewith have took the plain Cacao-paste with Nutmeg Mace Cinnamom and Sugar to advantage but being indâ—fferently well or recovered quite in a manner by drinking of Chocolata made up with ordinary Pepper they have relapsed or incurred a sharpness of Urine to their great astonishment they not understanding the difference of Chocolatas Others having been troubled with the apprehenâ—â—ons of a Consumption and Cough and having found benefit by the simple Chocolata used by some ordinary sellers of it meeting with a parcel of what hath been esteemed choice and rich by using it they have been damnified in their health their Rheums have been encreased by a colliquation of the humours the palat of their mouths being brought down by the keenness of the Chiles acting on the glandules about the throat and their blood being heated their sleep hath forsaken them In fine the issue hath been altogether contrary to their expepectation and perhaps the Physician who recommended it hath as well as his Patient entertained an ill opinion of the Drink whereas they ought to blame the Chocolata-makers who inform them not of the variety of Ingredients wherewith it is made I come now to represent the virtues of the compound Chocolata the praises whereof I would not have understood of the several rich Compositions not authenticated by experience nor known to the world nor those Authors I shall alledge all they say is to be restrained to the plain Chocolata of the Indies made up of the Nut Maiz Achiote a few Anise-seeds and Chiles proportioned and suited to the temper of the Patient and given in pure water or Atolle and the last more or less plain as occasion served or of what was not discrepant from it by the mixture of any vehement Spices of the East-Indies but the more milde ones of America as the Iamaica-pepper Sugar and the like which being within no unsuitable latitude I shall report their Characters promiscuously Franciscus Ferdinandez principal Physician in the Kingdom of Mexico under Philip II. and appointed by him to enquire diligently and to write of the Natural and Medicinal Rarities of that Province saith of Chocolata thus Es una de las mas saludables y praeciosas bebidas de quantas hasta oi estan descubiertas por que en toda esta bebida no se echa cosa que sea mala ni haga danna à la salud si no todas cordiales y de mucho provecho para vi eios ninnos mugeres praennadas y gente ociosa y conviene no beber tras della ni comer otia cosa ni hacer exercicio despues de tomarle si no estar se un rato quieto Y deve tomarse bien caliente It is one of the most wholesome and pretious Drinks that have been discovered to this day because in the whole Drink there is not one Ingredient put in which is either hurtful in it self or by commixtion but all are cordial and very beneficial to our bodies whether we be old or young great with child or others accustomed to a sedentary life And we ought not to drink or eat after the taking Chocolata no nor to use any exercise after it but to rest for a while after it without stirring It must be taken very hot ☞ This is the Character of Chocolata with Achiote in it for Ferdinandez did much approve thereof Dr. Iuanes de Barrios speaks thus of it Digo pues que es menester considerar que al principio que esta bebida se comenso à usar se hacia de menos simples y cosas que el dia de oi se hase por que los Indios antigos de Guatimala no echevan en el lo que oi echa y no es de maravillar por que en las comidas y bebidas y cosas compuestas el uso y el tÃempo las perficiona hasta dar lesâ—el punto de la salud y de gusto que oi tiene y esto passa en los usos hasta darle su punto I say it is to be considered that in the beginning when this Drink of Chocolata came first to be used it was made of fewer Ingredients and things then it is now made with because the antient Indians of Guatimala did not put into it them as now nor is that to be marvelled ar because in meats and drinks and all manner of compositions it is Natural for them not to be begun and perfected at once but this must be done by time and practise till they arrive at that height of healthfulness and taste which they get at length And having said this he adds Es comoda pues ellae sola suple el almuerso y algunas otras comidas por que con ella no es menester pan ni carne nì bebida y en une mo mento se hase y sacona lo que no ai en las otras It is good alone to make up a breakfast and supply other victuals because having it you need no further meat bread or drink and in a moment it is prepared which is not to be found in others Dr. Iuanes de Cardenas concludes thus of it Y digo que usado con esta advertencia 〈◊〉 de mucho provecho para la salud y es bastante a alar gar los dias de la vida por que fuera de que da buen sustento al cuerpo ajuda agestar el mal humor vacuandole por sudor hieses y urina y digo otra ves que entierra ninguna es mas necessario que en
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
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
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
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