Dr. Fickendey 67 
of the results of fermentation. In fermenting 
the beans, the chief aim is to kill the germ 
each one contains but to kill it in such a way 
that the enzymes! present are not destroyed 
at the same time. 
This statement is confirmed by the fact that 
the most important changes—which manifest 
themselves after fermentation has taken place, 
both to the eye in the brown colouration of the 
cotyledons, and to the palate in the reduction 
of the bitter taste so well known in unfermented 
beans—can also be obtained without ferment- 
ing the cacao by killing the germs in the beans 
in such a way as not to render the enzymes 
less efficient. This can be done by the use 
1 These enzymes are organic catalyzers. By a 
catalyzer is understood a substance which is able, 
through its mere presence, and without the substance 
itself undergoing any alteration, to alter the rapidity of 
the chemical changes that the beans undergo, and in 
most cases to quicken them. These organic catalyzers, 
known as enzymes, differ from inorganic ones in that 
they are more individualized, that is to say, each 
enzyme is only able to influence one quite definite 
process, as, for instance, the diastase known in distilling, 
which brings about the conversion of starch into 
sugar. Inorganic catalyzers, on the other hand, as, for 
instance, finely-divided platinum, used in the self- 
ignition of gas lamps, are able to influence a whole 
series of widely different processes. These enzymes, in 
their behaviour, 7.¢., in the effect they have on surround- 
ing substances, are similar to albuminous bodies. They 
are soluble in water, and lose their efficiency if the 
watery solution is heated to a temperature approaching 
the coagulation temperature of albumen. 
