that chocolate,
carefully prepared, is an article of food as wholesome as it is
agreeable; that it is nourishing, easy of digestion, and does not
possess those qualities injurious to beauty with which coffee has been
reproached; that it is excellently adapted to persons who are obliged to
a great concentration of intellect; in the toils of the pulpit or the
bar, and especially to travellers; that it suits the most feeble
stomach; that excellent effects have been produced by it in chronic
complaints, and that it is a last resource in affections of the pylorus.

"Some persons complain of being unable to digest chocolate; others, on
the contrary, pretend that it has not sufficient nourishment, and that
the effect disappears too soon. It is probable that the former have only
themselves to blame, and that the chocolate which they use is of bad
quality or badly made; for good and well-made chocolate must suit every
stomach which retains the slightest digestive power.

"In regard to the others, the remedy is an easy one: they should
reinforce their breakfast with a _pate_, a cutlet, or a kidney, moisten
the whole with a good draught of soconusco chocolate, and thank God for
a stomach of such superior activity.

"This gives me an opportunity to make an observation whose accuracy may
be depended upon.

"After a good, complete, and copious breakfast, if we take, in addition,
a cup of well-made chocolate, digestion will be perfectly accomplished
in three hours, and we may dine whenever we like. Out of zeal for
science, and by dint of eloquence, I have induced many ladies to try
this experiment. They all declared, in the beginning, that it would kill
them; but they have all thriven on it and have not failed to glorify
their teacher.

"The people who make constant use of chocolate are the ones who enjoy
the most steady health, and are the least subject to a multitude of
little ailments which destroy the comfort of life; their plumpness is
also more equal. These are two advantages which every one may verify
among his own friends, and wherever the practice is in use."

In corroboration of M. Brillat-Savarin's statement as to the value of
chocolate as an aid to digestion, we may quote from one of Mme. de
Sevigne's letters to her daughter:

"I took chocolate night before last to digest my dinner, in order to
have a good supper. I took some yesterday for nourishment, so as to be
able to fast until night. What I consider amusing