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
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
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
Lord Windsor my singular good Friend and Patron and the worthy Governour of Iamaica under His Majesty one in whom concurr those Qualities that might justly recommend him for so important a charge to the choice of the best and wisest of Princes Loyalty Valour Prudent Conduct Moderation and Affability and under whose Government no Man ought to entertain other despair then what his own Worthlesness creates in him when I shall be safe and secure there and amidst my own Books as well as the Simples mentioned here then I will revise and so enlarge this Work that nothing shall be wanting thereunto Nunc te mar moreum pro tempore fecimus at tu Si foetura gregem suppleverit aureus esto And as I shall endeavour wholly to oblige man-kind with further Observations and Enquiries concerning Chocolata so I hope my example will stirr up others to the like performances and that Persons of ingenuity will either publish their Observations or dirâ—ct them to me and leave them either with the Lady Windsor or with Mr. Andrew Crock in St. Paul's Church-yard Book-seller to be sent to me that I may not be ignorant of what effects Chocolata or its particular Ingredients have here in England what new preparations and mixture of the Cacao-Nut or Spirit or Oyl are successfully contrived or ingeniously to inform or otherwise benefit men and I do here solemnly profess thâ—t I shall render all such Persons their due acknowledgment in publick and shall readily serve them any way during my being in Iamaica A DISCOURSE CONCERNING CHOCOLATA CHAP. I. Concerning the Name of Chocolata and its being universally used THe drink called ordinarily Chocolata is by the Indians called Chocolatl and is compounded of Atte as some say or as others Atl which in the Mexican language signifies water and from the sound which the water wherein is put the Chocolata makes as Choco Choco Choco when it is stirred in a cup by an Instrument called a molinet or molinillo untill it bubble and rise into a froth I shall not pursue other derivations of the name it being sufficient that we understand one and the same thing by the several appellations of Chocolatl Chocolata so it is usually called Chocolatte as Mr. Gage names it or Chocholate as Acosta or Succulata as d Mynsicht terms it or Cacaotl and Cacaoatl and Cacauatl all which names it bears in the Mexican Herbal as well as that of Chocolatl aforesaid In America several Countries have several drinks made out of roots and fruits variously prepared The Northerly tract thereof principally seems to use the drink called Chocolata in New-Spain Mexico and the neighbouring Provinces If we may believe Dr. Iuanes de Barrios who lived in those parts it hath been immemorially drunk in the Province â—f Guatimala and as particularly appertains to that Country as Mead to Lithuania and Ale to England however it may have diffused it self into other parts And indeed it hath prodigiously spread it self not only over the West-Indies but over Spain Portugal Italy France high and low Germany and England yea Turky and Persia and hath been recommended by sundry learned Physicians to the world So that it may well merit our regards to enquire into the Nature and Reason of a drink endeared unto us by so great a repute as the General usage of the Nobility and Populace of both Sexes and the Authority of the learnedst and most observing persons can give it It is so generally used in the Spanish Colonies of the West-Indies by the Natives and other Inhabitants that it alone makes up both the necessary provision for their sustenances and their delicaciâ—â— for extraordinary entertainments for pleasure This is confirmed by the general vogue of the Indian writers and whosoever shall have read Mr. Gage will no longer doubt it when he shall find besides the particular Chapter in which he designes a special account of it most of which is transcribed out of Anton. Colmenero de Ledesma how at sundry times he was treated therewith by way of a magnificent collation and being to travail he makes a store of Chocolatte to be as important a care as any for a journey In Spain it is drunk all Summer once or twice a day oâ—â— indeed at any time by way of entertainment for however Physicians there endeavour to confine the people to Rules yet is it generally drunk without regard to any and it is there as well as in the Indies all the year long It is drunk by the allowance of the Physicians once or twice each day and by the prevalence of custome as often as there is occasion for entertainment or that one is tyred through business and wants speedy refreshment There is a controversy about the convenience of taking it in Summer since Anton. Colmenero disallows it beyond May. But others as learned and observing as he permit it all the year and for Experience which he takes notice of they vouch the general practise of Sevil both of the King Court and City Nobis videtur consultissimum omni aestatis tempore potionem sumere Chocolatis Et si ad comprobationem valet Experientia hoc in communi vita civiâ—m Hispalensium cum sit haec calidissima regio ita feliciter sentitur ab omnibus ut illo carere sit apud illos infelicitas major Et huic accidit quod illo tempore sit hominum natura laxa maxime fere dissoluta si verum fari licet neminem per haec tempora video a Chocolate abstinere neque inter intemperantes Proceres neque temperatissimos Hispaniae Reges nec mediae fortunae cives Et nobis certe videtur nullo magis tempore quam aestate prodesse Chocolate I think it most fit to take Chocolate all Summer long And if we recurr to Experiments this is the general practise of the Inhabitants of Seviâ—â— which yet is a most hot country so that they count it a great misfortune to be deprived of it Besides at that time of the year our bodies suffer a greater exolution of Spirit and are more relaxed in their Pores then at other times And to speak the truth at this time of the year I observe that neither the most intemperate Courtiers nor the most temperate Kings nor vulgar Citizens do refrain it And I think it never more necessary then at that season of the year To evidence further the prevailing use of Chocolata we are to know that in Spain as well as the Indies people will not refrain it on fasting-daies and it is become a Case of Conscience managed with more then ordinary contests Whether the taking of Chocolata be a violation of Ecclesiastical Fasts The Moralists and Physicians divide upon it nor is there one considerable Argument produced for the necessity of taking it on Fast-days and so of reconciling it to Ecclesiastical Fastings but that of custome which how authentique an argument it is in this â—ase I leave to
for the other in Chocolata Nor is the commutation of Spice for Spice onely even other Flowers and Seeds are substituted and this he knows to be done in Holland which being so how can any recommend the use of Chocolata not knowing what Ingredients are in it or knowing that comes from Holland where other Ingredients then ought to be are put in for certain though it be as uncertain what they are or whereunto effectual It is further to be observed out of his words that such Ingredients are to be put in as suit with each particular Climate and individual Constitution Wherefore the same Chocolata is not to be promiscuously used by men in health of all tempers nor by men sick of different diseases Which was observed before by me in this Discourse and I take notice of it here again occasionally to shew that I am not singular in my opinion Mr. Gage chap. 16 tells us of it That where it is so much used the most if not all of them as well in the Indies as in Spain Italy Flanders which is a cold Country finde that it agreeth well with them True it is that it is used more in the Indies then in the European parts because there their Stomachs are more apt to faint then here and a cup of Chocolatte well confectioned comforts and strengthens the Stomach For my self I must say I used it twelve years constantly drinking one cup in the Morning another yet before Diner between nine and ten of the Clock another within an hour or two after Diner and another between four and five in the afternoon and when I was purposed to â—it up late to Study I would take another cup about seven or eight at night which would keep me waking till midnight And if by chance I did neglect any of these accustomed hours I presently found my Stomach fainty And with this custome I lived twelve years in those parts healthy without any Obstructions or Oppilations not knowing what either Ague or Fever was Yet I will not dare to regulate by mine own the Bodies of others nor take upon mâ— the skill of a Physician to appoint and define at what time and by what Persons it may be used Only I say I have known some that have been the worse for it either for drinking it with too much Sugar which hath relaxed their Stomachs or for drinking it too often for certainly if it be drunk beyond measure not only this Chocolatte but all other Drinks how innocent soever may be hurtfull And if some have found it oppilative it hath come by the too too much use of it As when one drinks overmuch Wine instead of comforting and warming himself he breeds and nourishes cold Diseases because Nature cannot overcome it nor turn so great a quantity into good nourishment So he that drinks much Chocolatte which hath fat parts cannot make distribution of so great a quantity to all the parts and that part which remains in the slender Veins of the Liver must needs cause Oppilations ☞ and Obstructions But lastly to conclude with this Indian drink I will add what I have heard Physicians of the Indies say of it and have seen it by experience in others though never could I find it in my self that those that use this Chocolatte much grow fat and corpulent by it which indeed may seem hard to believe for considering that all the Ingredients except the Cacao do rather extenuate then make fat because they are hot in the third Degree And we have already said that the Qualities which do predominate in the Cacao are cold and dry which are very unfit to add any substance to the body Nevertheless it may be answered that the many unctuous parts which have been proved to be in the Cacao are those which pinguefie and make fat and the hotter Ingredients of this Composition serve for a guide or Vehicle to pass to the Liver and the other parts untill they come to the fleshy parts and there finding a like substance which is hot and moist as is the unctuous part converting it self into the same substance it doth augment and pinguefie Hereupon he recommends it to the English to be drunk by them I shall not instance many Testimonies out of him to evince its general use among the Indians besides what he sayes in the Chapter already cited in his Relations of Guatemala and Chiapa the mentioneth their use of it more then once and speaking of Chiapa chap. 15. he hath this following Story which because it evidenceth the Opinion the Spanish Dames have of Chocolatte I shall insert at large The Women of Chiapa pretend much weakness and squeamishness of Stomach which they say is so great that they are not able to continue in the Church whilst a Mass is briefly hudled over much less whilst a Solemn high-Mass is sung and a Sermon preached unless they drink a cup of hot Chocolatte and eat a bit of Sweat-meats to strengthen their Stomachs For this purpose it was much used by them to make their Maids bring them to Church in the middle of Mass or Sermon a cup of Chocolatte which could not be done to all or most of them without a great confusion and interrupting both of Mass and Sermon The Bishop perceiving this abuse and having given fair warning for the omitting of it but all without an amendment thought fit to fix in writing ☞ an Excommunication upon the Church-doors against all such as should presume at the time of Service to eat or drink within the Church This Excommunication was taken ill by all but especially the Gentle-women much to heart who protested if they might not eat or drink in the Church they could not continue in it to hear what otherwise they were bound unto The chief of them knowing what great friendship there was between the Bishop and the Prior and my self came to the Prior and me desiring us to use all means we could with the Bishop for revoking that his Excommunication so heavily laid upon them and threatening their Souls with damning judgment for the violation of it The good Prior and my self laboured all we could alledging the custome of the Country the weakness of the Sex whom it most concern'd and also the weakness of their Stomachs the contempt that might ensue from them unto his person and many inconveniencies which might follow to the breeding of an uproaâ— in the Church and in the City whereof we had some probable conjecture from what already we had heard from some But none of these would move the Bishop to which he answered that he preferred the honour of God and of his house before his own life The women seeing him so hard to be intreated began to stomach him the more and to sleight him with scornful and reproachful words others sleighted his Excommunication drinking in iniquity in the Church as the Fish doth Water which caused one day such an uproar in the Cathedral that many Swords were
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-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
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