Dr. J. Sack 141 



order to ensure that the beans are evenly 

 sweated throughout, and to arrest decompo- 

 sition. 



Query 3. Is the rise of temperature dzte 

 to tke conversion of the sugar contained in the 

 pulp ? 



The supposition that the rise of the 

 temperature is caused by the conversion of 

 the sugar in the pulp, arose from the observa- 

 tion that, after the fermentation, the pulp 

 contained no more sugar, while the air was 

 pervaded by a strong smell of acetic acid ; 

 an element readily produced from sugar. 



Supposing this theory is correct, there 

 should be no rise of temperature if the 

 seeds are placed in the sweating-box after 

 the sugar has been removed from the fruit 

 pulp. 



In order to prove this, two baskets were 

 filled with cacao in the same way ; No. i 

 contained cacao to which nothing had been 

 done ; No. 2 contained cacao which had 

 previously been washed. The contents of 

 basket No. i proceeded to ferment in the 

 usual way, while the contents of basket No. 2 

 did not ferment at all, until after it had been 

 sprinkled over with a solution of sugar. 

 Simultaneously with the disappearance of the 

 sugar, however, the presence of alcohol and 

 acetic acid was observed. From this test, and 

 also that on page 139, it is thus seen that the 

 rise in the temperature of the cacao in the 



