File:The romance of plant life, interesting descriptions of the strange and curious in the plant world (1907) (14802621363).jpg

Identifier: romanceofplantli1907elli (find matches)
Title: The romance of plant life, interesting descriptions of the strange and curious in the plant world
Year: 1907 (1900s)
Authors: Elliot, George Francis Scott
Subjects: Plants
Publisher: Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott
Contributing Library: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden
Digitizing Sponsor: The LuEsther T Mertz Library, the New York Botanical Garden

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late. Theyfully appreciated the plant, and even more than we do, forthey worshipped it with grateful and superstitious awe. In their tombs, chocolate flavoured with vanilla wasplaced, in order to provide the ghost with suflicient susten-ance for his or her aerial flight to the Land of the Sun.Columbus brought home some cocoa on his return from hisfirst voyage. The Jesuit fathers in Mexico greatly helpedin developing the plantation of cocoa in the days of theSpaniards. At present the largest amount comes fromEcuador, which produces about 50,000,000 pounds weight. It is a small tree, twenty to thirty feet high, growing inthe warm, moist, and sheltered forests of Central and SouthAmerica. It has a large fruit, within which are the numerouscocoa beans, nibs,* or seeds. The tree does not bear untilit is five years old. The fermentation and drying of thebeans require some care. Chocolate is made from the powdered cocoa mixed withsugar and other materials. Chocolate, like tea and coftee, 126
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Stereo Copyright, Underwood Gr Under-wood London 6~ Xem York A Tobacco Plantation in Cuba TOBACCO depends for its effect on an extremely powerful drug, theineor caffeine, of which it contains minute proportions. Thereare very few other plants known which possess this powerfulsubstance. Amongst these is the Kola nut, which is every-where regularly employed in West Africa. On the way upto the barracks at Freetown, Sierra Leone, natives werealways to be seen seated by the roadside; they sold kolanuts to the soldiers, who were thereby enabled to walksteadily and uprightly past the sentry, and to return hischallenge in a clearly articulate voice, although they mightpreviously have been somewhat injudiciously convivial in thetown. This kola is one of the very strongest nerve tonics;under its influence men can endure severe physical andmental strain. Like the others, however, a depressing re-action inevitably follows, accompanied by insomnia, head-ache, and other evil effects. When one comes

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