H2  Occurrence  of  Mould  in  Cocoa  Butter.  {ApebSy(Pf^ 
issued  regulations  which  state  that  "no  person  shall  manufacture 
cocoa  powder  except  such  powder  as  contains  no  more  than  5  per 
cent  of  shell."  A  manufacturer  "  may  sell  as  Grade  A.  cocoa 
powder  any  cocoa  powder  which  contains  not  more  than  2  per 
cent,  of  cocoa  bean  shell."  From  the  point  of  view  of  the  public 
and  the  manufacturer  the  figures  are  well  chosen,  for  when  every 
reasonable  effort  is  made  on  a  commercial  scale  to  separate  the  shell 
from  the  nib,  about  2  per  cent,  of  shell  is  left  in.  These  figures 
have,  however,  placed  the  analyst  in  a  difficult  position,  for  there 
is  no  process  which  will  accurately  determine  such  small  quantities 
of  shell  as  2  per  cent,  and  5  per  cent.,  and  with  such  processes  as  are 
available  he  will  need  to  draw  conclusions  from  his  results  with 
considerable  caution.  Of  the  many  processes  that  have  been  sug- 
gested we  have  most  confidence  in  the  fiber  determination,  but  the 
natural  variations  in  shell  and  in  nib  are  so  great  as  to  make  the 
detection  of  5  per  cent,  of  shell  uncertain.7 
In  conclusion  I  wish  to  thank  Mr.  N.  P.  Booth  for  a  number  of 
useful  suggestions. 
OCCURRENCE  OF  MOULD  IN  COCOA  BUTTER.1 
By  Lily  Batten  and  Hubert  W.  Bywatfrs. 
Cocoa  butter  is  distinguished  among  fats  by  its  resistance  to  in- 
fluences tending  to  produce  rancidity  or  mouldiness.  A  case  of  ex- 
tensive growth  of  a  mould  in  a  specimen  of  cocoa  butter  is  therefore 
interesting  and  noteworthy.  The  specimen  in  question  was  a  large 
block  of  butter  weighing  about  28  lbs.,  and  it  had  probably  been 
expressed  from  the  cocoa  beans  several  months  before  it  came 
under  our  observation.  On  being  broken,  it  was  noted  that  towards 
the  center  of  the  block,  and  extending  from  the  upper  to  the  lower 
surfaces,  were  a  large  number  of  dull  black  patches,  intermingled 
with  streaks  of  a  brownish  yellow  tinge ;  the  butter  had  a  granular 
appearance,  the  whole  somewhat  resembling  a  matured  Stilton 
cheese. 
5  See  Annual  Report  of  the  Experimental  Farms  in  Canada,  1898,  151, 
and  1899,  851. 
7  See  also  Baker  and  Hulton,  Analyst,  1918,  43,  197-201. 
1  Reprinted  from  the  Journal  of  the  Society  of  Chemical  Industry,  July, 
1918. 
