Add to these experiences a love for the flavour which dates from
childhood, and his admiration for this "food of the gods" will be
appreciated, even if not sympathized in, by the few who have escaped
its spell. Its value in the eyes of practical as well as scientific
men is sufficiently demonstrated by its increasing use in naval and
military commissariats, in hospitals, and in public institutions of
all classes. In the British Navy, which down to 1830 consumed more
cocoa than the rest of the nation together, it is served out daily,
and in the army twice or thrice a week. Brillat Savarin, the author of
the "Physiologie du Goût," remarks: "The persons who habitually take
chocolate are those who enjoy the most equable and constant health,
and are least liable to a multitude of illnesses which spoil the
enjoyment of life."

[Illustration--Black and White Plate: A Cacao Harvest, Trinidad.]

It certainly behoves us, therefore, to learn something more of such a
valuable article than may be gleaned from the perusal of an
advertisement, or the instructions on a packet containing it. There is
something more than usually fascinating even in its history, in all
the tales regarding this treasure-trove of the New World, and in the
curious methods by which it has been treated. The story of its
discovery takes us into the atmosphere of the Elizabethan period, and
into the company of Cortes and Columbus; to learn of its cultivation
and preparation we are transported to the glorious realms of the
tropics, and to some of the most healthful centres of labour in the
old country--in one case to the model village of the English Midlands.
It is therefore an exceedingly pleasant round that lies before us in
investigating this subject, as well as one which will afford much