Dr. A. Schulte im Hofe 131 



be an insufficient supply of air, butyric acid 

 fermentation, &c., will take place. In order 

 to avoid these, the leaves have to be^ par- 

 tially dried, but still kept moist enough for 

 oxidation to become possible. The production 

 of good tobacco depends on proper attention 

 being paid to these conditions for a sufficient 

 length of time, and on stopping the fermenta- 

 tion as soon as a sufficient degree of oxidation 

 has been reached. Since the desired tempera- 

 ture is caused by micro-organisms, naturally 

 their conditions for growth must be taken into 

 consideration. If the necessary temperature 

 can be supplied artificially, the micro-organisms 

 can be dispensed with. 



Seeing this, I therefore tried the following 

 experiments : Some tobacco leaves, having 

 varying degrees of moisture, were exposed in 

 a large glass receptacle to a temperature of 

 between 45 to 55 C. (113 to 131 F.). In 

 order to ensure that they had access to suffi- 

 cient oxygen, the leaves were exposed to 

 the air daily, whilst with the control-tests, 

 this airing was omitted. Having determined 

 by repeated experiments the proper degree of 

 moisture, I allowed the process of oxidation 

 to continue for varying periods. By this 

 means I was able, after treating the leaf for 

 fourteen days at temperatures between 45 to 

 55 C. (113 to 131 F.), to obtain a tobacco 

 that was declared to be of good quality, and 

 which kept perfectly well. Leaves subjected 



