Am'jJu?y'x8P7h7arm*}    Notes  on  the  Permanent  Exhibition.  375 
undergo  a  kind  of  fermentation,  whereby  the  flavor  is  improved  and  the  germinating 
power  destroyed.  In  many  places  it  is  customary  to  put  the  fresh  seeds  into  baskets 
or  barrels  and  bury  them  in  the  ground  for  several  days, whereby  they  acquire  a 
deeper  brown  color  and  lose  their  harsh  and  bitter  taste.  Fruits  which  are  not  fully 
matured  are  not  opened  until  after  they  have  ripened  by  being  placed  in  heaps  and 
covered  with  leaves.  The  seeds  prepared  as  stated  are  then  rapidly  dried  in  the 
sun  or  by  artificial  heat.  The  variations  of  the  soil  and  climate,  and  the  different 
modes  of  treatment,  influence  the  size,  color  and  other  physical  characters  of  the 
seeds,  and  to  some  extent  also  the  formation  of  the  fixed  oils  and  other  chemical 
constituents. 
The  varieties  now  on  exhibition  comprise  mainly  cacao  from  Trinidad,  Caracas, 
Maracaibo  and  Liberia.  At  the  Centennial  Exposition  Venezuela  alone  exhibited 
no  less  than  twenty  kinds  of  cacao,  all  of  which  probably  appear  in  commerce  only 
as  five  or  six  varieties,  of  which  the  three  first  named  are  perhaps  the  most  import* 
ant  j  nearly  all  the  other  cacao-producing  countries  had  likewise  sent  specimens. 
We  learned  that  its  cultivation,  though  profitable,  has  of  late  years  been  neglected 
in  Jamaica,  so  that  now  only  about  600  cwt.  are  exported}  on  the  other  hand,  it 
appears  to  be  on  the  increase  in  Bahia,  Amazonas,  Para,  Maranhao  and  other  prov- 
inces of  Brazil,  but  is  not  yet  important  enough  as  that  cacao  could  be  classed 
among  the  principal  products  of  exportation  from  that  country.  The  yield  of  cacao 
in  Para  is  stated  by  Dr.  Moreira  for  1,000  trees,  which  can  be  taken  care  of  by  one 
man,  to  be  annually  70  arrobas  (of  32  lbs.  each),  and  to  continue  for  about  80  years. 
These  figures  are  probably  too  high  for  an  average ;  an  annual  yield  of  50  arrobas 
and  a  productiveness  for  40  or  50  years  appear  to  be  nearer  correct.  The  rind  of 
the  fruit  is  said  to  be  rich  in  potash  and  the  ash  to  be  available  for  soap-making. 
The  pulp  surrounding  the  seeds  is  used  for  preparing  a  refreshing  drink,  and  also  a 
kind  of  rum. 
Cacao  seeds  have  a  brittle  testa,  which  encloses  an  embryo  of  the  same  shape  as 
the  seed,  and  consists  mainly  of  two  large  cotyledons,  which  are  penetrated  by  the 
irregular  projecting  folds  of  the  inner  seed-coat,  so  that  they  readily  break  into  angu- 
lar pieces.  The  interesting  alkaloid,  theobromine*,  is  contained  not  only  in  the  ker- 
nel, but  also  in  the  shell  (testa),  which  is  used  in  a  similar  manner  as  coffee.  The 
former  is  the  seat  of  the  cacao-butter,  of  which  it  contains  between  38  and  51  per 
cent.,  and  which  melts  at  about  9o°F  (see  p.  237).  It  is  obtained  as  a  by-product 
in  the  preparation  of  cocoa  (more  properly  called  cacao)  and  chocolate.  The  former 
is  mainly  the  ground  seeds,  freed  from  their  fixed  oil  by  warm  pressure  5  the  latter 
is  the  seeds  partially  deprived  of  the  oil,  and  made  into  a  uniform  paste  with  or 
without  the  addition  of  sugar,  for  the  cheaper  qualities,  also,  with  farinaceous  sub- 
stances and  animal  fats,  and  variously  flavored  ;  the  most  delicate  and  generally 
acceptable  flavor  for  chocolate  is  furnished  by  vanilla. 
Vanilla  is  the  fruit  of  Vanilla  planifolia,  Andr.,  a  climbing  orchidaceous  plant, 
indigenous  to  Eastern  Mexico,  where,  as  well  as  in  some  other  tropical  countries, 
it  is  cultivated.  The  fruit  is  collected  when  the  green  color  begins  to  change,  and 
by  subjecting  them  to  a  kind  of  sweating  process  the  characteristic  dark-brown  color 
and  delicate  aroma  is  developed.    The  kind  most  highly  esteemed  in  the  United 
