A Confusion of Terms

New Zealand Tablet, 29 June 1911, Page 1217

A Confusion of Terms

It has been frequently said that the English language is a confusion of tongues rather than a distinct language of itself, and this is generally admitted by _ the English philologists themselves. Its universality accounts for the confusion existing as to the meaning of many words having a similar orthography. Take, for instance, the four words cacao, coca, coco, and cocoa. None of these are English, whilst among all classes of English-speaking people they are taken to mean the same thing, whereas they apply to vegetable growths entirely different from each other. The first-named, pronounced kah-kah-o (and almost universally spelled cocoa, though an entirely different product), is the. chocolate berry tree, called by" Linnaeus theobromo cocao. It is an evergreen tree, bearing egg-shaped pods five to fifteen inches high, enveloped in a thick skin, and containing twenty-five to one hundred seeds embedded in- the pulp. These pods are gathered in June and December, in Central and South America, and in ; some of the West Indian Islands. When"divested of their pods the beans are dried in the sun to remove the moisture, and are then ready for the market. Previous to use they are roasted like the coffee bean, thus losing their husks. The beans are then ground into cocoa, and when mixed with other substances become chocolate, whilst the shells, after being carefully winnowed, are known as cocoa shells or nibs. These form about 12 per cent, of the contents of the pods. When the oil has been extracted, dried," and ground it becomes broma, widlst the oil itself yields a white fat of the consistency of lard, called in commerce ' cacao butter," much used in pharmacy. This butter fuses at 72 degrees Fahrenheit and congeals at 64.5 degrees. 2. Coca, sometimes spelled cuca,° is the dried leaf of the shrub erythroxylum coca. The plant is .found in the mountain regions of Peru and Bolivia, and is mentioned by Prescott in his work on Peru. The leaves are dried in the sun and chewed like tobacco. It is valued for its stimulating, narcotic properties, yielding the drug known as alkaloid cocaine, used to deaden pain. It is an intoxicant like opium, and when taken intemperately is highly dangerous. .' 3. Coco. Of this plant little is known, except that it yields a root which, when cooked, is not unlike v the sweet potato, agreeable to the taste and nutritious. - 4. Cocoa. This is the product of the tree called by Linnaeus cocos nucifera. It belongs to the genus palm, and is found in many tropical regions throughout the world, especially in Brazil and Ceylon. The cocoanut tree begins to bear in its sixth year, blossoms every six weeks, and produces annually eight to twelve bunches, or about one hundred nuts. The fruit is very nutritious, agreeable to the palate, and, besides, possesses much medicinal value. The milk contained in the nut is sweet when ripe, but much of its value is lost by being gathered before .maturity. ~ The trunk abounds in sap, which, after fermentation, is known as palm wine, and after distillation becomes arrack, a dangerous intoxicating drink. The. inner substance of the nut is an article of diet among'the natives, and when eaten fresh from the tree is wholesome, but difficult of digestion to weak stomachs. The cocoanut tree serves also a variety of other commercial purposes.