At
the same time, I assume that the reader desires a full and accurate
account, and not a vague story in which the difficulties are ignored. I
hope that, as a result of this method of dealing with my subject, even
experts will find much in the book that is of interest and value. After
a brief survey of the history of cocoa and chocolate, I shall begin with
the growing of the cacao bean, and follow the _cacao_ in its career
until it becomes the finished product ready for consumption.

_Cacao or Cocoa?_

The reader will have noted above the spelling "cacao," and to those who
think it curious, I would say that I do not use this spelling from
pedantry. It is an imitation of the word which the Mexicans used for
this commodity as early as 1500, and when spoken by Europeans is apt to
sound like the howl of a dog. The Mexicans called the tree from which
cacao is obtained _cacauatl_. When the great Swedish scientist Linnaeus,
the father of botany, was naming and classifying (about 1735) the trees
and plants known in his time, he christened it _Theobroma Cacao_, by
which name it is called by botanists to this day. Theo-broma is Greek
for "Food of the Gods." Why Linnaeus paid this extraordinary compliment
to cacao is obscure, but it has been suggested that he was inordinately
fond of the beverage prepared from it--the cup which both cheers and
satisfies. It will be seen from the above that the species-name is
cacao, and one can understand that Englishmen, finding it difficult to
get their insular lips round this outlandish word, lazily called it
cocoa.

[Illustration: CACAO PODS (Amelonado type) in various states of growth
and ripeness.]

In this book I shall use the words cacao, cocoa, and chocolate as
follows:

_Cacao_, when I refer to the cacao tree, the cacao pod, or the cacao
bean or seed. By the single word, cacao, I imply the raw product, cacao
beans, in bulk.

_Cocoa_, when I refer to the powder manufactured from the roasted bean
by pressing out part of the butter. The word is too well established to
be changed, even if one wished it. As we shall see later (in the
chapter on adulteration) it has come legally to have a very definite
significance. If this method of distinguishing between cacao and cocoa
were the accepted practice, the perturbation which occurred in the
public mind during the war (in 1916), as to whether manufacturers were
exporting "cocoa" to neutral countries, would not have arisen. It should