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506 CHOCIM CHOCTAWS Webster. In the senate he made several elo- quent speeches, but his true sphere was rather that of a lawyer than of a politician. At the close of his senatorial term, in 1846, he resumed his practice in Boston. In 1853 he was attor- ney general of the state, and was thenceforth to the close of his life the foremost lawyer in New England. He died while on his way to Europe for the benefit of his health. Mr. Choate was perhaps the most effective pleader of the day ; and apart from his purely legal ef- forts, his reputation rests upon two or three speeches delivered in the senate of the United States, and some occasional addresses and ora- tions. The principal of these are a eulogy upon President Harrison (1841), an address upon the anniversary of the landing of the pilgrim fathers (1843), a eulogy upon Daniel Webster (1853), an address at the dedication of the Peabody in- stitution in Danvers (1854), an oration before the young men's democratic club of Boston (1858), two addresses before the law school at Cambridge, and two lectures before the mercantile library association of Boston. His " Works, with a Memoir," by Prof. S. G. Brown, including correspondence, have been published (2 vols., Boston, 1862). CHOCIM. See KHOTIN. CHOCO, formerly a province of New Granada, now a district of the state of Cauca, in the United States of Colombia, bordering on the Pacific and touching the gulf of Darien on the N. E. ; pop. about 45,000, mostly negroes and mulattoes, with a few whites and Indians. It is traversed by the western branch of the An- des, and drained by the San Juan and Atrato rivers. The climate is warm, moist, and un- healthy. The soil is rich and productive, but agriculture is generally neglected, almost every- thing that is consumed, excepting plantains, fruit, and fish, being imported. Gold is abun- dant in the mountains and in the beds of the streams, and platinum is found on the W. side of the Cordillera; but mining and industry are at a low ebb. The principal towns are Quibdo and Novita. There is a bay of the same name on the Pacific coast, between Points Guascama and Chirambira, lat. 2 40' and 4 18' N. ; and another, forming the S. part of the gulf of Darien, which receives the Atrato. CHOCOLATE (Aztec, chocolatl), an alimen- tary preparation, usually a beverage, intro- duced into Europe by the Spaniards in 1520, and by them kept for a long time a secret. It is prepared from the fruit of the theobroma cacao, a name given by Linnaeus, who was so fond of it as to call it the food of the gods. (See CAOAO.) The ancient Aztecs are said to have been very skilful in its fabri- cation, producing a froth which on cooling was solid enough to be eaten. Their favorite flavoring was vanilla, but they also used other spices. In the West Indies, the beans on being gathered are immediately dried and packed for market. They thus possess, however, a slightly acrid bitter taste, which in Caracas is removed by a slight fermentation which is produced by covering them with stones or earth, after which they are dried in the sun. In manufac- turing chocolate the beans are gently roasted in an iron cylinder similar to that used for roasting coffee. The development of a peculiar aroma indicates the completion of the process, when the beans are turned out, cooled, freed by sifting and fanning from their husks, and by trituration at a temperature of 130 F. in a mortar or a mill reduced to a paste, which is then mixed with from one half to equal parts of sugar and a small quantity of vanilla bean for flavoring, and, the proper temperature hav- ing been preserved, turned into moulds. Choco- late is easy of adulteration, and it is often di- luted with farinaceous substances, as arrowroot, sago, or wheat flour, and with animal fats. CHOCTAW. I. A S. W. county of Alabama, bordering on Mississippi ; area, about 800 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 12,676, of whom 6,872 were colored. The Tombigbee river, which flows along the E. boundary, is navigable by steam- boats. It is well watered by affluents of the Tombigbee. The chief productions in 1870 were 227,715 bushels of Indian corn, 47,626 of sweet potatoes, and 6,489 bales of cotton. There were 1,813 horses, 941 mules and asses, 3,133 milch cows, 7,103 other cattle, 2,940 sheep, and 14,082 swine. Capital, Butler. II. A central county of Mississippi, traversed by the Big Black river; pop. in 1870, 16,988 of whom 4,462 were colored. The former area was 990 sq. m., but a portion was taken in 1870 to form Grenada county. Forests of oak, hickory, and other timber occupy much of the land ; the remainder is fertile. The chief pro- ductions in 1870 were 7,844 bushels of wheat, 482,751 of Indian corn, 10,578 Ibs. of wool, and 5,637 bales of cotton. There were 2,276 horses, 1,567 mules and asses, 4,173 milch cows, 7,584 other cattle, 7,618 sheep, and 25,892 swine. Capital, Greensborough. CHOCTAWS, or ChahUs, an extensive nation of North American Indians, who, with the Ali- bamons, Timuquas, and kindred tribes, and the Muskogees, occupied nearly all the territory on the gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi to the Atlantic. They claimed to have come out of a cave in a hill, which they regarded as sacred. The Chahtas, or Choctaws proper, comprising three divisions or fires, occupied a rectangular territory south of the Chickasaws and west of the Muskogees, comprising what is now central and southern Mississippi and western Alabama. They cultivated the soil and subsisted chiefly by agriculture. They were raw-boned, active, and deceitful. From the practice of flattening the foreheads of their children with bags of sand, they obtained from the French the name of Flatheads. De Soto was the first to enter their territory, seizing the cacique of Coosa, and fighting a bloody battle with them at Ma villa in 1540. The next Spanish force, under Tristan de Luna, in 1560 aided them in a war with the Natchez. When the French set-