go The Fermentation of Cacao 
104° F.), but that in the latter case the cacao 
assumes a better colour. 
To determine what exact percentage of 
moisture the beans should contain was a 
difficult matter to decide. It must be clear 
to anyone having even only a slight knowledge 
of bacteriology, that we are here dealing with 
conditions exceedingly favourable to the growth 
of micro-organisms, this being particularly the 
case at temperatures ranging from 30° to 50°C. 
(86° to 122° F.). The object of my experiments 
in this connection was, from the first, to 
determine the lowest possible degree of 
moisture at which oxidation was still possible ; 
for, the lower the amount of water present, 
the less favourable are the conditions for the 
growth of micro-organisms. On the other 
hand, I found that the lower the amount of 
humidity, the slower the process of oxidation 
became. On the plantations it is necessary to 
dry the acidified cacao even if only to help 
the air to obtain access to the interior 
of the beans. At a percentage of humidity 
amounting to 20 per cent., the conditions for 
oxidation to occur were still fairly favourable, 
but butyric acid fermentation and the develop- 
ment of moulds still occurred very frequently. 
The latter were practically excluded when 
the percentage of humidity decreased to 15 
per cent. 
Having determined the changes taking 
place in the beans by means of laboratory 
