The Last Word 269 



i.e., where the precipitate had been mainly 

 deposited. The deduction from this experi- 

 ment would appear to be that the oxidase is 

 soluble in water, but is carried down with the 

 tannin precipitate and thus rendered insoluble. 



As regards Dr. Schulte im Hofe's process, 

 the last word has in my opinion not yet been 

 spoken. The method is not new in itself, and 

 has already been used for a long time in a 

 good many cacao estate factories in completing 

 the ripening process of the beans. It is more 

 a question of the plant or machinery required. 

 If it be possible to devise an apparatus which 

 permits of the process being carried out 

 cheaply and can be easily controlled, there is 

 some prospect of the method being applied on 

 a large scale. 



The prize essays of Nicholls and Hudson 

 offer a .useful stimulus and contain new and 

 interesting facts. 



I cannot regard the proposal, that the small 

 farmers should be forbidden to sell fresh cacao 

 in order that thefts may thereby be avoided, 

 as being of any practical value. In the 

 Cameroons the tendency is, on the contrary, to 

 encourage the natives to sell the fresh cacao so 

 as to help exporters to obtain a better quality, 

 as doino- so enables the cacao to be treated in 



o 



an expert manner by the European shippers. 

 Thieving takes place all over the world, and 

 the task of protecting himself against thefts 

 devolves on the proprietor. Should special 



