67. Cocoa.—Cocoa and chocolate are prepared from the crusted seeds of an American plant. The kernels contain nearly half their weight of fat. Cocoa is much more nutritious than tea or coffee, but not so stimulating. Chocolate is made of the pure kernels ground in a mill with sugar. Cocoa should contain the ground kernels only, but the husks are ground up with the cheaper kinds, which also contain potato-starch, and earthy substances, as red ochre, &c. Soluble cocoa contains a large proportion of starch, which thickens when boiling water is poured upon it. Genuine ground cocoa unmixed with other substances cannot be sold under one shilling to fourteenpence per pound.
Cocoa is a very wholesome and nutritious beverage, and does not produce those effects which render tea