consumed in the country, where it commands double the price of the Guayaquil, that which usually reaches the United States.[8] The taste for chocolate grows with its use, and hardly any person resides under the tropics for any length of time, to whom it does not become more an article of necessity than luxury. “He who has drunk one cup,” says Cortez, in one of his letters, “can travel a whole day without any other food, especially in very hot climates; for chocolate is, by its nature, cold and refreshing.” And the quaint old traveller in Central America, Gage, devotes a whole chapter to its praise, the manner of its use, and its effects on the human system. He asserts that _chocolate_ “is an Indian name, compounded from _atl_, which in the Mexican language signifies _water_, and _choco-choco-choco_, the sound which water makes when stirred in a cup.” He claims for it a most healthful influence, and bears his testimony as follows: “For myself, I must say, I used it for twelve years constantly, drinking one cup in the morning, another yet before dinner, between nine and ten of the clock; another within an hour or two after dinner, and another between four and five in the afternoon; and when I purposed to sit up late to study, I would take another cup about seven or eight at night, which would keep me waking till about midnight. And if by chance I did neglect any of these accustomed hours, I presently found my stomach fainty. And with this custom I lived for twelve years in these parts, healthy, without any obstructions, or oppilations; not knowing what either Fever or Ague was.” He, however, warns against the use of the cacao before preparation, for the reason that the simple nut, when eaten, as it often is by the Creole and Indian women, “doth notably obstruct and cause stoppings, and makes them look of a pale and earthy color, as do those that eat earthenware and pieces of lime wall.”[9] ----- Footnote 8: