The common Uses of Chocolate may be reduced to three: It is put in Confections; it is used in Chocolate, properly so call'd; and there is an Oil drawn from it, to which they give the Name of Butter. I shall treat of them distinctly, in the three following Chapters. CHAP. I Of Chocolate in Confections. They chuse _Cocao-Nuts_ that are half ripe, and take out the Kernels one by one, for fear of spoiling them; they then lay them to soak for some Days in Spring Water, which they take care to change Morning and Evening: afterwards, having taken them out and wiped them, they lard them with little Bits of Citron-Bark and Cinnamon, almost as they make the Nuts of _Rouen_. In the mean time, they prepare a Syrup of the finest Sugar, but very clear; that is to say, wherein there is but little Sugar: and after it has been clarified and purified, they take it boiling-hot off the Fire, and put in the _Cocao-Kernels_, and let them lie 24 Hours. They repeat this Operation six or seven times, encreasing every time the Quantity of Sugar, without putting it on the Fire, or doing any thing else to it: last of all, they boil another Syrup to the Consistence of Sugar, and pour it on the Kernels well wiped and put in a clean earthen Pot; and when the Syrup is almost cold, they mix with it some Drops of the Essence of Amber. When they would have these in a dry Form, they take them out of the Syrup; and after it is well drained from them, they put them into a Bason full of a very strong clarify'd Syrup, then they immediately put it in a Stove, or Hot-House, where they candy it. This Confection, which nearly resembles the Nuts of _Rouen_, is excellent to strengthen the Stomach without heating it too much; for this reason, they may safely be given to those who are ill of a Fever. CHAP. II. Of Chocolate, properly so called. In treating of this Liquor, we have two things to examine: The First is, the Original of Chocolate, and the different Manner of preparing it: The Second, the Medicinal Uses that it is proper for; which shall be the Subject of the two following Sections. SECT. I Of the Original of Chocolate, and the different Manners of preparing it. Chocolate is originally an _American_ Drink, which the _Spaniards_ found very much in use at _Mexico_, when they conquer'd it, about the Year 1520.