78 The Fermentation of Cacao 
of the cultivation and manufacture of tea, I 
found that here again an oxidation process 
constituted the essential factor in the conver- 
sion of the freshly gathered green leaves into 
black tea.’ 
Studies.in Cacao Fermentation in 
the Cameroons. ‘ 
It was, therefore, only natural that when, 
towards the end of 1899, an opportunity of 
studying cacao fermentation was afforded me 
in the Botanical Gardens at Victoria in the 
Cameroons, I began my researches by seeking 
to determine whether an ogjglation process does 
not also occur in this case. Even the first 
experiments confirmed my assumption, and | 
found that the chemical changes that take 
place in the cacao beans are precisely similar 
to those that bring about the conversion of 
green tea-leaves into black tea. Before enter- 
ing more fully into the results of my investiga- 
' Dr. A. Schulte im Hofe: ‘ Die Kultur und Fabri- 
cation von Tee in Britisch Indien und Ceylon mit 
Ricksicht auf den wirtschaftlichen Wert der Teekultur 
fiir die deutschen Kolonien.” Der Tropenpflanzer, 1go1, 
vol. ii. 
? In all these experiments I have not attempted to 
determine whether the oxidation is due to the action 
of enzymes or not. For, in the first place, this is not 
essentially important to the process. Secondly, I then 
had no laboratory at my disposal, for this was only built 
later in Victoria. I therefore had to limit myself to 
only the most necessary apparatus and reagents which 
I had brought with me. 
