“The third way of taking it is the most used, and thus certainly it doth no hurt, neither know I why it may not be used as well in England as in other parts, both hot and cold; for where it is so much used, the most, if not all, as well in the Indias as in Spain, Italy, Flanders (which is a cold countrey), find that it agreeth well with them. True it is, it is used more in the Indias than in the European parts, because there the stomachs are more apt to faint than here, and a cup of chocolatte well confectioned comforts and strengthens the stomach. For myself I must say, I used it twelve years constantly, drinking one cup in the morning, another yet before dinner between nine or ten of the clock; another within an hour or two after dinner, and another between four and five in the afternoon; and when I was 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 houres, I presently found my stomach fainty. And with this custome I lived twelve years in those parts healthy, without any obstructions, or oppilations, not knowing what either ague or feaver was.” After its introduction into Europe from America, chocolate was used at first only as a luxury, but it has steadily advanced in popular esteem until it is now recognized as one of the necessaries of life. [Illustration: FRONTISPIECE OF ONE OF THE EARLIEST WORKS ON CHOCOLATE.] It would be interesting to speculate as to the accidents which led to the original use of such beverages as coffee, tea, and chocolate. The earliest employment of the two former is veiled in as deep a mystery as that which surrounds the chocolate-plant. All were used at the outset by what we have been accustomed to call the uncultivated races of mankind, but we cannot surmise what first attracted their attention to these plants. One can only say that by the natives of lands where the plants grow naturally, they have all been used from time immemorial, and that all three are welcome gifts from a rude state of civilization to the highest which exists to-day. By the savages and the Aztecs of America, by the roving tribes of Arabia, and by the dwellers in the farther East, the virtues of these three plants were recognized long before any one of them was introduced into Europe.