The cocoa or cacao yielding plant must not be confounded with the coco-nut palm or the coca-yielding plant which has already been described. The natives of Mexico used cocoa before the discovery of America by Columbus. The Toltecs cultivated the plant centuries before they were finally conquered by the more powerful and more progressive Aztecs in 1325. Cortez and Fernandez in their letters to Charles V. of Spain referred to the cultivation of cocoa by the Mexicans who used the seeds not only as a food but also as a medium of barter and exchange. It was apparently the only medium accepted in the payment of provincial taxes. Humboldt states that cocoa was similarly employed in Costa Rica and other Central American countries. In remote times cocoa was somewhat differently prepared from what it is at the present time. The roasted and hulled seeds were coarsely pulverized in a stone mortar, strongly spiced by means of vanilla and other spices, boiled in water and when cold stirred to a frothy semi-liquid in cold water and eaten cold. The word chocolate is said to be derived from the Aztec _chocolatl_ (_choca_, frothy and _atl_, water). Through Cortez and others who lauded very highly the value of cocoa as a nourishing food for those going on long journeys, it soon became widely known. In 1520 considerable quantities of it, pressed into cakes, were shipped to Spain. Remarkable as it may seem, it is stated that the Brazilians learned the use of cocoa from the Spaniards. The noted Italian traveler Carletti (1597-1606) introduced the use and preparation of cocoa into his native city, Florence. Not all Europeans gave favorable reports concerning the use of cocoa. Clusius stated that it was more suited to hogs than human beings. Acosta stated that the drink had “a nauseous aspect and caused heart troubles.” Cocoa was introduced into France about 1615, England about 1667, Germany about 1679. Somewhat later chocolate houses were established in various cities of Europe. William Homburg, a chemist, of Paris, extracted the fat from cocoa as early as 1695, and Quelus (1719) recommended its use as a salve and as an article of diet. [Illustration: COCOA FRUIT. Fruit and seeds. FROM KŒHLER’S MEDICINAL-PFLANZEN.]