HUYLERS CHOCOLATES

The dietetic use of chocolate does not require any |

detailed notice in this place. Prepared with water or ^

milk, it is employed as a substitute for coffee in southern

Europe, South America, Mexico and West India, and to |

a less degree in other civilized countries. It is to be pre- ^

ferred to the other agents mentioned when a nutritive f

I rather than an excitant operation is desired ; and hence ^

it is familiarly employed during convalescence from acute ^

: disease, and as a substitute for tea or coffee in the diet of £

\ persons whose nervous system is liable to be deranged by ^

: them. |

; ■ I

The English name cocoa, which is used to designate ^

the product of the highly-prized cocoa bean ( Theobroma ^

: Cacao), is improperly applied to that fruit ; for, according |

to Webster's Dictionary (Edition of 1884), cacao is the |

proper term to use ; cocoa should only be employed to |

designate the fruit or nut of the Cocoa-nut tree.

; From A Manual of Practical Hygiene. By Ed. A. Parkes, M.D., %

F.R.S. [London, i8y8).

Although the theobromine of cocoa is now known to be ^

; identical with thei'n and caffei'n, the quantity of fat is |

\ large. It varies even in the same sort of cocoa, but ^ \ usually from 45 to 50 per cent.

The large quantity of fat and albuminoid substance ^

\ make it a very nourishing article of diet, and it is there- |

\ fore useful in weak states of the system (and for healthy | \ men under circumstances of great exertion).

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HUYLERS CHOCOLATES. II

By roasting, the starch is changed into dextrin, the ^

^ amount of manganic acid increases, and an empyreumatic ^

| aromatic substance is formed.

According to the celebrated French chemist, Pay en, \

| the alimentary properties of chocolate are fully proved.

^ The cacao bean contains twice as much azotic matter 2

^ (nitrogen) as the best flour, about twenty-five times more ^

^ fatty matter, a notable portion of starch and a very agree- $,

^ able aroma, whilst the theobromine which it contains pro- ^

| duces appetite and facilitates digestion. This analysis of ^

£ ingredients proves effectually that it is endowed with nu- ^

^ tritive power in an eminent degree. |

Chevalier, member of the Academy of Medicine and ^

| of the Board of Health of Paris, in his treatise on Chocolate, ^

^ declares that cacao and chocolate are a complete food, |

2 and adds that "coffee and tea are not food, but cacao 2

2 gives one-third of its weight in starch and one-half of its ^

'$ weight in cacao butter, and, converted into chocolate by ^

| the addition of sugar, it realizes the idea of a complete ^

^ aliment, wholesome and eminently hygienic.

" The shells of the cacao bean contain the same prin- <?

^ ciples as the kernels, and the extract, obtained by in- ^

^ fusion of the shells in sweetened milk, forms a mixture ^

^ at once agreeable to the taste and an advantageous ^

\ substitute for tea and coffee at the breakfast, lunch, din- |

| ner and supper table."

In a recent work by the chemist Boussingault (April, f

^ 1883), we read : "Chocolate possesses an essential qual- f

\ 12 HUYLER'S CHOCOLATES

ity — that of comprising in a small bulk a large portion of nutritive matter.

"In Africa, rice, gum and shea butter help the Arab to cross the desert ; in the New World, cacao and chocolate make the heights of the Andes and the vast American forests accessible to man."

This is at once a perfect food and a most energetic tonic. There is in fact in cacao, legumine, albumine and vegetable meat, associated with fat, starch and sugar, which maintain respiratory combustion ; phosphates, the ma- terial of the bony system ; and lastly, a precious substance, Theobromine.

Huffeland, physician to the King of Prussia, said : "I recommend good chocolate to nervous, excitable persons ; also to the weak, debilitated and infirm ; to children, to women ; I have obtained excellent results from it in many cases of chronic diseases of the digestive organs."

The celebrated Humboldt, in his narrative of travels, affirms that chocolate possesses an essential quality, viz., that of containing in a small compass a large proportion of the elements necessary to good and healthy feeding.

Fernando Cortez, conqueror of Mexico, probably ex- aggerated its value when he said : " He who has drunk a cup of Mexican chocolate, can march all day without further nourishment," but it is quite certain that for long ex- peditions, as also when hunting, fishing or traveling, espe- cially when it is desirable to reduce the bulk and the weight of the rations, chocolate offers incontestable advantages.

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