Dr. Lucius Nicholls 235 
and thus plump it up. The latter are of an 
uneven light colour and appear shrunken: 
upon breaking them it is found that the bean 
is tough and the fracture is delayed, its interior 
colour is a harsh purple and has not suffused 
to the testa, which is very adherent to the 
kernel and has little masses of unremoved 
saccharine pulp attached to it. In the sweated 
seed the fracture is easy and sharp, showing 
it to be of a very brittle nature, the interior 
colour is a rich chocolate, the kernel is not 
adherent to and is easily removed from the 
testa. 
The Losses and Gains in the Constituents of Cacao 
when undergoing Fermentation. 
It is practically impossible to estimate the 
exact losses and relative gains in cacao beans 
undergoing fermentation; the reason being 
that there is no unvarying factor present, from 
which we are able to get the proportions. 
It has been usual to consider the fats in 
cacao as remaining unaltered in amount during 
fermentation and drying, but although they 
are the least affected of the constituents there 
is undoubtedly a slight loss. The melting 
point of oleum theobrome is from 28° to 
32° C. (82°—g0° F.) ahd the higher of 
these temperatures is always reached not only 
in the fermentation, but also during the drying 
and dancing processes; the result is that the 
fats ooze through the testa and thus to the 
trays and the sides of the dancing vessels. 
