Dr. Oscar Loew 39 
astringent: matters, to which the somewhat 
acrid taste of the raw beans is due, are also 
hydrolyzed, and thus a marked improvement 
in flavour is gained.” Finally he adds: ‘‘ This 
work has necessarily only resulted in a partial 
and incomplete study of the results of the 
fermentation.” 
The so-called fermentation is carried out 
either by heaping the fresh ‘seeds, after 
separating them from the shell, on the floor, 
or placing them in receptacles and covering 
them with banana leaves or with cloth. The 
floor or the receptacles slope so that the 
watery products can escape during the fer- 
mentation. A period of two to. six days, 
according to circumstances, is usually allowed 
for fermentation. The height of the heaped 
seed measures Ito 1°5 metres and over. In 
some countries the highest temperature allowed 
for fermentation is 45° C., in others 50° C. 
According to Hart’ there is “danger in 
allowing [the temperature] to rise above 
140° F. [60° C.j,? as the character of the 
product is sure to suffer.” An apparatus 
has been recently devised by M. Schulte in 
which a constant temperature of 60°C. is 
maintained.’ In this case the yeast is fully 
excluded and bacteria with few exceptions 
1 «© Cacao.” Trinidad, 1900, and. ed., p. 42. 
2 Note, p. 248, that Nicholls says 110° to 120° F. is 
the optimum temperature. 
8 See Dr. Schulte im Hofe’s essay, p. 95, ¢¢ seq. 
