Dr. A. Schulte im Hofe 87 
place, and the consequent moulds formed from 
that cannot be avoided. Hence, according to 
the weather conditions, one may obtain at one 
time comparatively very good results, whilst 
at another period a very bad quality of cacao 
is produced. This was probably the reason 
for the introduction of appliances such as 
movable trays, by which the cacao could be 
rapidly placed under cover when it commenced 
to rain. By thus sheltering the beans the 
above-mentioned drawbacks were considerably 
diminished, but it was never possible to obtain 
so good a cacao as was obtained by drying on 
floors when favoured by several successive 
days of fine weather. At the same time 
mechanically dried cacao is never so bad as 
that which has been subjected to several 
successive rainy days. 
In other countries the opinion has gained 
ground that a better quality cacao could be 
produced with slow drying by spreading the 
cacao out in thicker layers. That such may 
be the case can be easily understood from 
what has been said above. The slow-drying 
process gives the oxygen a longer opportunity 
for acting on the beans ; further, the tempera- 
ture then existing is, as a rule, more favourable 
for oxidation. 
My assumption that, at times, as with tea, 
oxidation is favourably influenced by higher 
temperatures, was also confirmed by experi- 
ments conducted at the Botanical Gardens in 
