Page:The food of the Gods - A Popular Account of Cocoa.djvu/115

 56 at a considerable height, whence husks and nibs are allowed to fall before the winnower: the separated nibs are assorted according to size. Some of the shells find their way to the Emerald Isle, to be used by the peasants for the weak infusion called "miserables."

Now comes the important process of grinding, performed between horizontal mill-stones, the friction of which produces heat and melts the "butter," while it grinds the "nibs" till the whole mass flows, solidifying into a brittle cake when cold.

The thick fluid of the consistency of treacle flowing from the grinding-mills is poured into round metal pots, the top and bottom of which are lined with pads of felt, and these are, when filled, put under a powerful hydraulic press, which extracts a large percentage of the natural oil or butter. The pressure is at first light, but as soon as the oil begins to flow the remaining mass in the press-pot is stiffened into the nature of indiarubber, and upon this it is safe to place any pressure that is desired. As it is not advisable to extract all the