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CHAPTER III. 
THE LAST WORD. 
By the Editor. 
As several years on an average have elapsed 
since the preceding essays were written, and 
at least twelve or thirteen years since Dr. 
Axel Preyer recorded. on paper the results 
of his investigations, I was most anxious to 
hear what each of the authorities had to say 
at the present time on the progress made 
along the lines advocated by them. This was 
especially the case with Dr. Fickendey, as | 
had noticed that his name had been mentioned 
in the Bulletin of the Imperial Institute in 
a lengthy description of a process carried out 
under his directions, whereby the fermentation 
of the beans had’ been dispensed with, other 
means having been taken to kill the embryo 
without destroying the oxidizing enzymes. On 
this point Dr. Fickendey was good enough, at 
the end of March, 1913, to write as follows :— 
With the férmentation of cacao there are 
two processes that should be kept strictly 
separate; on the one hand, the fermentation 
of the pulp, z.e., the saccharine and the mucila- 
