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O.L. Symonds, "Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom." The Cacao theobroma. There are several other varieties of cacao, but none of them produce the famous food. The Cocos nucifera, or "nut-bearing coco." Erythroxylon coca. Or, as otherwise written, cacava quahuitl. 10 George III., c. 10. Serve to table without delay. To make a richer drink, use equal parts of milk and water.
It was called by them chocolatt, from whence we derive the name of the compound of which it is the chief ingredient chocolate. So highly was it esteemed, that Linnaeus thought it worthy of the name of theobroma "food for gods." The tree is raised from seed, and seldom rises higher than from twenty to thirty feet; the leaves are large, oblong, and pointed.
The Amazons region is the original home of the principal species of chocolate tree, the Theobroma cacao; and it grows in abundance in the forests of the upper river. The cultivated crop appears to be a precarious one; little or no care, however, is bestowed on the trees, and even weeding is done very inefficiently.
Of course, none but the wealthy could drink it; indeed, we find writers of the past century alluding to it as an aristocratic beverage. Linnæus was so fond of chocolate, that he called it food for the gods in the distinguishing name which he gave to the tree that produces it Theobroma cacao. The tree is a native of tropical America, but is now largely cultivated in other parts of the world.
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