CHOCOLATE.

69

ae ®ts in the villous coats of the stomach and bowels, whereby they could produce themorbid effects certified by'several naval surgeons. It was, moreover obvious that,r °m the insoluble condition of the chocolate, it could be of little use as an article of°°u, or as a demulcent substitute for milk, and that, in fact, three fourths of it were,011 this account, an ineffective article of diet; or were wasted.

Having reported these results and opinions to the Lords of the Admiralty, theywere pleased, after a few weeks’ consideration, to request me to go down to the vict-ailing yard at Deptford, and superintend the preparation of a quantity of chocolate,,.fke best manner I could with the means there provided. I accordingly repairedhither on the 13th of September, 1842, and experienced the utmost courtesy and co-•jP er ation from Sir John Hill, the Captain Superintendent, and his subordinate officers,he coco-beans had bqen heretofore milled, after a slight roasting upon the sole of anht-kiln, along with their husks. As I was satisfied, from analysis, that the huskshre no better food than sawdust, and that they might cause irritation by their minutePteulte left after grinding between rotating millstones, I set about a plan for shellingei a, but could find no piece of apparatus destined for the purpose. There was how-l ^r, a pea-shelling mill, which had been used only for one day some years before, andstood ever since idle,* which, on being cleaned and having its millstones placed atproper distance, was found to answer pretty well. The beans for. experiment, to theof 0 cwt., had been previously roasted, under my care, at a well-regulatedw * t ' 1 muc h stirring, in the oat-kiln ; and, on being cold, were run through thej Effing mill, which was put in communication with the fanners of the flour mill.jA this arrangement, the coco-beans were tolerably shelled, and the kernels separated0Ia their scaly husks. The weighings were accurately made.

s Guyaquil coco

-

-

672 lbs.

Lost in roasting

-

43 )

shells

-

54 )

• 117

waste

-

20 )

Remained for milling

-

555

September I made a report to the Lords of the Admiralty upon thethe 13th, of which the following is an outline. After describing thetaken to regulate the roasting temperature, and to equalize the effect uponNa ' >eans br moving them occasionly by a rake, I stated that the oat-kiln was not wellr e „^ e d to the purpose of roasting the coco, because it was impossible to turn the beansAly a nd continuously during the process, so that they could not be equally roasted,^ha aecause it was an unwholesome operation for the workmen, who must go into aIfj, ttffier filled with noxious gases and fumes, to use the rakes. When the door of theshut, to allow the burned air from the fire below to draw up through it, mischieft 0 ®®t be done to the stratum of coco on the sole, and when the door was again opened,(.jP ei 'mit a person to go in and stir, time and heat were wasted in replenishing thewith fresh air. I understand that a revolving-cylinderiroasting machine hadPiik 1 0la< ^ e Messrs. Rennie for the chocolate process at Deptford ; but, for reasonsTh°' Vn to me > it i la( i never been employed.

pej ae diminution of weight by roasting and shelling may be estimated at about 17p tev Cen t. A part of this loss is. moisture, which should be completely expelled, toei H its causing the chocolate to become mouldy at sea. But a part of the defal-tnjjj a Was also due to some of the coco remaining in the crevices of the pea-splittinga ®d Hie fanners, which would not be observable if these were in constant employ-pf. r • I think, therefore, that the roasted kernels may be estimated in general at 85jf ,- etlt - of the raw beans.

^Um" represents the chocolate mills at the victualling-yard, Deptford, ass to- tea hy the celebrated engineers, Messrs. Rennie. There are four double mill-e ast j S > A «, c, d, each three feet in diameter, of which the nether rests upon a bed ofste at J° n > like a drum-head, kept at the temperature of about 220° by the admission oftti^i to . the case below. Over each mill there is a feeding-hopper 1, 2, 3, 4, in com-Shove 1 - 011 ky the PiP es 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > with the S enel 'al reservoir e, charged upon the floorl hes e coco through the funnel placed over it. The vertical shafts which turnHich mi ,S are marked f, g, h, l ; they are moved by the train of bevil wheels above,of e are driven by an arm from the main shaft of the steam engine. Each mill can,i. show 6 ’ be th rown in an( i out °f » ear at pleasure. At i, i, i, i, the discharge-spoutWn > which pours out the semi-fluid hot chocolate into shallow cylindrical tin pans,

(eft ed that peas in their skin kept better at sea than the split peas, and they were also pre-

’ me sailors in their natural state.

<,the 14thrperiments of