The principal use to which cocoa is put is in the preparation of a beverage. For this purpose enormous quantities of chocolate, cocoa, broma and hulls are consumed annually. The word “Theobroma” is derived from the Greek, meaning drink for the gods. The drink is prepared by thoroughly triturating the desired amount of chocolate, cocoa or broma with a small quantity of water, then stirring this into the necessary quantity of boiling milk or water and boiling for a few minutes with constant stirring. The oil present gives the drink great nutritive value. It is also slightly stimulating, owing to the presence of an alkaloid theobromine which is closely similar in its properties to theine and caffeine, the active constituents of tea and coffee. The drink does not agree with some individuals, because the large amount of oil present causes indigestion. It is also highly probable that the indigestion or dyspepsia is due to the minute fragments of roasted cell-walls of the seeds, which are not only indigestible, but irritate the secreting mucous cells lining the inner surface of the stomach. Cocoa butter, which resembles tallow in consistency and appearance, is used in medical and pharmaceutical practice as a salve, or pomade, for external application in eruptive diseases, as scarlet fever, etc., etc. Cocoa also finds extensive use in medical practice, though it has no marked curative properties. Cocoa from which the oil has been thoroughly expressed (broma) makes an excellent drink for convalescents. It is used to disguise the taste of disagreeable medicines, etc. Albert Schneider. THE CANOE-BIRCH. Like polished marble their tall shafts gleam Beside some beautiful inland stream, And their heart-shaped leaves in autumn’s prime Wear the golden tints of a fairer clime. As I touch the bark, white as driven snow, I dream of the seasons long ago, When the Red Man paddled his light canoe Where the canopied birches pierced the blue! —George Bancroft Griffith. Transcriber’s Notes --Reconstructed the Table of Contents (originally on each issue’s cover). --Created an eBook cover from elements within the issue. --Retained copyright notice on the original book (this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.) --Silently corrected a few palpable typos. End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Birds and Nature, Vol. 10 No. 1 [June 1901], by Various