Dr. A. Schulte im Hofe 103 
and when the pods become over ripe the 
beans start to germinate inside the husk. 
They do not therefore remain at the same 
stage of ripeness for any length of time, as 
is the case with some other kinds of fruit. 
Hence even if the beans are allowed to. con- 
tinue to ripen after the pods are gathered, 
as is done in some isolated cases, no uniform 
product is obtained. This fact must be 
allowed for just as it has to be in the case 
of tea. 
The Fermentation of Cacao. 
On all plantations, even those worked on 
the most primitive lines and owned by 
natives, the beans are piled into heaps or 
placed in casks, or other receptacles, or 
special fermentation boxes, as soon as the 
husk of -the pod has been removed. In 
many cases the natives are in the habit of 
leaving the beans to their own devices with- 
out any mixing, or turning over when being 
fermented. I have had the opportunity on 
several occasions of observing in such cases 
how the acetic fermentation has acted in a 
satisfactory manner in the upper or outer 
layers, whilst deeper down the beans have 
not yet passed beyond the stage of alcoholic 
fermentation, and that indeed even this has 
not penetrated into the centre of the beans. 
The beans thus fermented were then dried, 
but it must be obvious to anybody that an 
