The common cocoa tree is of low stature, seldom exceeding 16 or 18 feet in height, but it is taller in its native forests than it is in cultivated plantations. The leaves are large, smooth, and glossy, elliptic-oblong and acuminate in form, growing principally at the ends of branches, but sometimes springing directly from the main trunk. The flowers are small, and occur in numerous clusters on the main branches and the trunk, a very marked peculiarity which gives the matured fruit the appearance of being artificially attached to the tree. Generally only a single fruit is matured from each cluster of flowers. When ripe the fruit or “pod” is elliptical-ovoid iu form, from 7 to 10 inches in length, and from 3 to 4∣ inches in diameter. It has a hard, thick, leathery rind of a rich purplish yellow colour, externally rough and marked with ten very distinct longitudinal rib,s or elevations. The interior of the fruit has five cells, in each of which is a row of from 5 to 10 seeds embedded in a soft delicately piħk acid pulp. Each fruit thus contains from 20 to 40 or more seeds, which constitute the raw cocoa or “cocoa beans” of commerce.

The tree appears to have been originally a native of Mexico; but it can be cultivated in suitable situations within the 25th parallels of latitude. It, however, flourishes best within the 15th parallels, at elevations ranging from near the sea-level up to about 2000 feet in height. It is now cultivated in Mexico, Honduras, Guatensala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, New Granada, Venezuela, Guiana, and most of the West Indian Islands. Its cultivation has also been attempted in other tropical regions of the globe; but the industry has hitherto not been developed on any considerable scale away from the American continent and the West Indian Islands.

For the successful cultivation of the cocoa tree a rich well-watered soil and a humid atmosphere, with freedom from cold winds and protection from violent storms, are necessary. As the young plants are extremely delicate and tender, they are reared in nursery grounds till they attain a height of from 15 to 18 inches, and after planting out they still require protection from the wind and sun, which is provided by growing “provisions” (food-yielding plants), aud the coral-bean tree, Erythrina CoraUodendron, among the young trees. The trees begin to bear in the fourth or fifth year, but they do not attain their full productive vigour till about their eighth year, and they ought to continue prolific for from thirty to forty years thereafter. As the trees carry buds, flowers, and fruit in all stages at the same time, ripe pods may be collected at any period of the year, but there are periodical harvests dependent on the suitability of the weather for collecting the fruit and curing the seeds. In Venezuela, where the famous Caracas cocoa is grown, the gathering takes place in June and December, these being the crop of St John and the Christmas crop respectively. In gathering the workman is careful to cut down only fully ripened pods, which he adroitly accomplishes with a long pole armed with two prongs or a knife at its extremity. The pods are left in heaps on the ground for about twenty-four hours; they are then cut open, and the seeds are taken out, and carried in baskets to the place where they undergo the operation of sweating or curing. There the acid juice which accompanies the seeds is first drained off, after which they are placed in a sweating box, in which they are enclosed and allowed to ferment for some time, great care being taken to keep the temperature from rising too high. The fermenting process is, in some cases, effected by throwing the seeds into holes or trenches in the grounα, and covering them with earth or clay. The seeds in this process, which is called claying, are occasionally stirred to keep the fermentation from proceeding too violently. The sweating is a process which requires the very greatest attention and experience, as on it to .a great extent depend the flavour of the seeds and their fitness for preservation. The operation varies in duration according to the state of the weather, but a period of about two days yields the best results. Thereafter the seeds are exposed to the sun for drying, and those of a fine quality should then assume a warm reddish tint, which characterizes beans of a superior quality.

The cocoa tree was cultivated, and its produce held in the highest esteem, in Mexico and Feru previous to the discovery of the American continent by Columbus. Prescott, in his Conquest of Peru, says of the followers of Pizarro, that as they sailed along the Pacific coast they saw “hill-sides covered with the yellow maize and the potato, or checkered in the lower levels with blooming plantations of cacao.” The same writer, referring to the use of cocoa in Mexico, says of the Emperor Montezuma that “he was exceedingly fond of it, to judge from the quantity, no less than 50 jars or pitchers being prepared for his own daily consumption; 2000 more were allowed for that of his household.” “Traffic,” he adds again, “was carried on partly by barter and partly by means of a regulated currency of different values. This consisted of transparent quills of gold dust, of bits of tin cut in the form of a T, and bags of cacao containing a specified number of grains.”

A knowledge of this valuable article of food was first brought to Europe by Columbus, but some time elapsed ere its virtues were appreciated in the Old World. Spain was the first nation in which its use became common; and to this day cocoa is much more extensively consumed among the Spaniards than by any other European community. The earliest intimation of the introduction of cocoa into England is found in an announcement in the Public Advertiser of Tuesday, 16th June 1657, notifying that “In Bishopgate Street, in Queen’s Head Alley, at a Frenchman’s house, is an excellent West India drink, called chocolate, to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade, at reasonable rates.” About the beginning of the 18th century chocolate had become an exceedingly fashionable beverage, and the cocoa tree was a favourite sign and name for places of public refreshment. Cocoa and chocolate are frequently mentioned-in contem porary literature, and among others Pope, in his Rape of the Lock, alludes to it; the negligent spirit, fixed like Ixion—

“In fumes of burning chocolate shall glow, And tremble at the sea that froths below.”

The high price at which it was retailed kept chocolate among the luxuries of the wealthy; and coffee, which had been introduced two or three years before chocolate, and tea, which came a year later, both soon far out-stripped their rival beverage in public estimation.

Raw cocoas arc distinguished iu commerce by the name of the localities of their growth; and it is found that the produce of particular regions maintains, pretty constantly, a distinctive character and appearance. The most esteemed of all varieties is that obtained from Venezuela, known in commerce as Carácas cocoa, next to which in value stand the red “nuts” of Trinidad. The finest qualities are in form and size not unlike thick round almonds; they have a husk of a clear brick-red colour, and the cotyledons, which are of a deep chocolate brown, have a fine membrane permeating their entire substance, and dividing them into numerous irregular segments, into which the seeds are easily broken down. The kernels are astringent in taste, with a mild, not disagreeable flavour. In chemical composition, as well as in physical characteristics, they vary within certain limits; but the analysis by Payen may be taken as representing their average constitution. It is as follows :— [table]

The constituent upon which the peculiar value of cocoa depends is the theobromine, an alkaloid substance which till recently was supposed to be distinct from, though closely allied to, the theine of tea and coffee. It is now, however, known that the alkaloid in these and in two or three ether substances similarly used is identical, and their physiological value is consequently the same. The fat or cocoa butter is a firm, solid, white substance at ordinary temperatures, haviug an agreeable taste and odour, and very remarkable for its freedom from any tendency to become rancid. It consists essentially of stearin with a little olein, and is used in surgical practice, and in France as a material for soap and pomade manufacture. The starch grains present in raw cocoa are small in size, and of a character so peculiar that there is no difficulty iu distinguishing them under the microscope from any other starch granules. As an article of food cocoa differs essentially from both tea and coffee. While only an infusion of these substances is used, leaving a large proportion of their total weight unconsumed, the entire substance of the cocoa seeds is prepared as an emulsion for drinking, and the whole is thus utilized within the system. While the contents of a cup of tea or coffee can thus only be regarded as stimulant in its effect, aud almost entirely destitute of essential nutritive properties, a cup of prepared cocoa is really a most nourishing article of diet, as, in addition to the value of the theobromine it contains, it introduces into the system no inconsiderable proportion of valuable nitrogenous and oleaginous elements.

The manufacturing processes through which raw cocoa passes have for their object the development of the aroma peculiar to the substance, aud its preparation in a soluble palatable and digestible form. The first operation consists in roasting the seeds, whereby the empyreumatic aromatic substance is formed, and the starch particles are changed into dextrin. The roasting is accomplished in large revolving cylinders, after the completion of which the roasted seeds are taken to the crushing and winnowing machine. Here the seeds are reduced to the form of nibs, which are separated from the shells or husks by the action of a powerful fan blast. The nibs are next subjected to a process of winnowing in small quantities in hand sieves, by which the hard cocoa “germs” are sifted out, and mouldy or discoloured fragments are at the same t;mo removed by hand. Nibs so prepared constitute the simplest and purest preparation in which manufactured cocoa is sold; but they require prolonged boiling to effect their complete disintegration. The nibs when ground to a fine meal can be cooked with much greater facility. Another form in which the pure seeds are prepared is in •flaked cocoa, which consists of the nibs ground up into a rather coarse uniform paste. Tlιe grinding is effected in cylinder machines, having an outer fixed casing within which a drum revolves. The nibs are fed in by a hopper on the upper part of the apparatus, and are carried round its circumference by the revolution of the drum, and delivered as a thin uniform pasty mass, the heat developed by the friction within the cylinder being sufficient to liquefy the oil, which again sets on cooling of the paste. Of late years a preparation called extract of cocoa has come into extensive use. It is made by removing a certain proportion of the fat from the seeds, whereby the remaining substance can be ground to an impalpable powder, which yields a beverage much more palatable and agreeable to many stomachs then either entire nibs or the so-called soluble cocoas. The removal of the fat is effected by placing nibs, after they have been reduced by grinding to a fine smooth paste, in bags, and subjecting them to powerful pressure in heated presses. The fat exudes slowly and quickly solidifies, and a solid compact cake is left in the press, which only requires to be broken up and finely powdered for use.

Most other preparations, whether sold as cocoa or chocolate, are mixtures of various substances with ground nibs, the object of the mixture being to mask the presence of the cocoa fat, and to render the whole readily miscible with boiling water. The ordinary distinction between these soluble cocoas and chocolate is that the cocoa is usually sold in the form of a powder, the chocolate being made up in cakes, which require to be scraped down, boiled, and “milled” or frothed before being ready for drinking. In making the soluble cocoa, which is sold under such names as homoeopathic, Iceland moss, pearl cocoa, <fcc., the nibs are first ground up in a heated stone mill, and, while in a soft pasty condition, thoroughly mixed with certain proportions of sugar and arrowroot, or other and inferior starches. The compound is afterwards ground to fine powder and sold under various names and at different prices, according to the quality of the cocoa and the nature and proportion of the ingredients which are combined with it. The finer chocolates are combinations of cocoa with sugar alone, flavoured with some aromatic substanςp, generally vanilla; but into the composition of cheap qualities starchy substances enter. The nibs for chocolate are brought to a fine pasty state iu a heated mill, and the sugar or sugar and starch with vanilla are then added aud thoroughly incorporated in the mill. The paste is next passed several times between heavy horizontal rollers to produce a thoroughly homogeneous mixture. It is lastly cast into moulds while still in a thin pasty state, aud after cooling it forms hard solid cakes, and is ready to wrap up for the market. Chocolates for eating are prepared with large proportions of sugar and various flavouring substances, and the elegant preparations of these aud of chocolate creams by Ménier of Paris and Fry and Sons of Bristol undoubtedly form most wholesome, palatable, and nutritious confections. To the last-named firm we have to express our obligation for information courteously placed at our disposal.

Preparations of cocoa are still much more largely consumed in Spain than in any other European country. In Great Britain the consumption, partly stimulated by the improvements effected in its manufacture, is steadily increasing, although as compared with the consumption of tea and ooflee its employment is yet on a very restricted scale. The following figures exhibit the ratio of increase of cocoa entered for home consumption since 1820 :— [table]

In addition to these quantities of raw cocoa, a considerable quantity of prepared cocoa and chocolate is now imported from France. In 1820 the imports of manufactured cocoa only amounted to 14 B⅛, but in 1874 91,466 ft> were im ported. An import duty of Id. per lb on raw and 2d. per tt> on manufactured cocoa is levied in Great Britain.

The cocoa-nut palm, being the most useful of its entire tribe to the natives of the regions in which it grows, and furnishing many valuable and important commercial products, is the subject of careful cultivation in many countries. On the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of India the trees grow in vast numbers; and in Ceylon, which is peculiarly well suited for their cultivation, it is estimated that twenty millions of the trees flourish. The wealth of a native in Ceylon is estimated by his property in cocoa-nut trees, and Sir J. Emerson Tennent notes a law case in a district court in which the subject in dispute was a claim to the 2520th part of ten of the precious palms. The cultivation of cocoa-nut plantations in Ceylon is thus described by Sir J. E. Tennent. “The first operation in cocoa-nut planting is the formation of a nursery, for which purpose the ripe nuts are placed in squares containing about 400 each; these are covered an inch deep with sand and sea-weed or soft mud from the beach, and watered daily till they germinate. The nuts put down in Appì are sufficiently grown to be planted out before the rains of September, and they are then set out in holes 3 feet deep and 20 to 30 feet apart.

. . Before putting in the young plant it is customary to bed the roots with soft mud and sea-weed, and for the first two years they must be watered and protected from the glare of the sun under shades made of the plaited fronds of the cocoa-nut palm, or the fan-like leaves of the palmyra.” The palm begins to bear fruit from the fifth to the seventh year of its age, each stock carrying from 5 to 30 nuts, the tree maturing on an average 60 nuts yearly.

The uses to which the various parts of the cocoa-nut palm are applied in the regions of their growth are almost endless, The nuts supply no inconsiderable proportion of the food of the natives, and the milky juice enclosed within them forms a pleasant and refreshing drink. The juice drawn from the unexpanded flower spathes forms “toddy,” which may be boiled down to sugar, or it is allowed to ferment and is distilled, when it yields a spirit which, in common with a like product from other sources, is known as “arrack.” The trunk yields a timber (known in European commerce as porcupine wood) which is used for building, furniture, firewood, &c.; the leaves are plaited into cajan fans and baskets, and used for thatching the roofs of houses; the shell of the nut is employed as a .water vessel; and the external husk or rind yields the coir fibre, with which are fabricated ropes, cordage, brushes, &c. The cocoa-nut palm also furnishes very important articles of external commerce, of which the principal is cocoa-nut oil. It is obtained by pressure or boiling from the kernels, which are first broken up into small pieces and dried in the sun, when they are known as copperah or copra. It is estimated that 1000 full-sized nuts will yield upwards of 500 ìb of copra, from which 25 gallons of oil should be obtained. The oil is a white solid substance at ordinary temperatures, with a peculiar, rather disagreeable odour, from the volatile fatty acids it contains, and a mild taste. Under pressure it separates into a liquid and a solid portion, the latter, cocoa-stearin, being extensively used in the manufacture of candles. Cocoa-nut oil is also used in the manufacture of marine soap, which forms a lather with sea water. Coir is also an important article of commerce, being in large demand for the manufacture of coarse brushes, door mats, and woven coir matting for lobbies and passages. A considerable quantity of fresh nuts is imported, chiefly from the West Indies, and sold as a dainty among the poorer classes, or used in the preparation of a kind of confection.