remains, however, that it is still customary at

some hydropathic establishments, and perhaps in a few other instances, for doctors to order "nibs" for their patient, which may sometimes be accounted for by injury having resulted from drinking one of the many "faked" cocoas offered for sale; the order for "nibs" being a despairing effort to obtain the genuine article.

2. Consolidated Nibs—i.e., cocoa-nibs ground between heated stones, whence it flows in a paste of the consistency of cream, which, when cool, hardens into a cake containing all the cocoa-butter. Cocoa in this form (mixed with sugar before cooling) is served in the British Navy—a somewhat wasteful and inconvenient practice, as when stirred, the excess of fat at once floats to the top of the cup, and is generally removed with a spoon, to make the drink more appetising.

3. Cocoa Essence.—This is the same article as No. 2, with about 60 per cent, of the natural butter removed; consequently the proportion of albuminous and stimulating elements is greatly increased. It is prepared instantly by pouring

boiling water upon it, thus forming a light beverage with all the strength and flesh-forming constituents of the decorticated bean.[9]

Chemical analysis of cacao-nibs and cocoa essence shows them to contain on an average:

The cocoa-butter when clarified is of a pale yellow colour, and as it melts at about 90° F. it is of great value for

pharmaceutical purposes, especially as it only becomes rancid when subjected to excessive heat and light, as to the direct rays of the sun.

ANALYTICAL APPARATUS.

The albuminoid or nitrogenous constituents will be seen to form about a sixth of the whole nib, or more than a fifth of the cocoa essence, and to their presence is due the fact that absolutely pure cocoa is such a remarkable flesh-former.

Cacao Crop, Trinidad.

The carbohydrates, producing warmth and fat, are also important food substances, the proportion of which, while forming about a fifth of the whole bean, rises to close upon a third of the essence.

Cocoa also contains a volatile oil, from which it derives its peculiar and delicious aroma.

Thus nearly nine-tenths of the cacao-bean may be assimilated by the digestive organs, while three-fourths of tea and coffee are thrown away as waste. For the same bulk, therefore, cocoa is said to yield thirteen times the nutriment of tea, and four and a half times that of coffee. Its value as a substitute for mother's milk has already been alluded to, but may well be emphasized by a quotation from a paper read before the Surgical Society of Ireland in 1877 by one of its Fellows, Mr. Faussett: