E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Cockles of the Heart.
“To warm the cockles of one’s heart,” said of good wine. (Latin, cochleœ cordis, the ventricles of the heart.)
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“Fibræ quidem rectis hisce exterioribus in dextro ventriculo proxime subjectæ oblique dextrorsum ascendentes in basim cordis terminantur, et spirali suo ambitu helicem sive cochleam satis apte referunt.”—Lower: Tractatus de Corde, p. 25. (1669.)
