to fifteen; their development being less perfect than other parts of
South America. After the maturation of the fruit, when their green
colour has changed to a dark yellow, they are plucked, opened, their
beans cleared of the marrowy substance, and spread out to dry in the
air. In the West Indies they are immediately packed up for the market
when they are dried; but in Caraccas they are subjected to a species
of slight fermentation, by putting them into tubs or chests, covering
them with boards or stones, and turning them over every morning to
equalize the operation. They emit a good deal of moisture, and lose
the natural bitterness and acrimony of their taste by this process, as
well as some of their weight. Instead of wooden tubs, pits or trenches
dug in the ground are sometimes had recourse to for curing the beans;
an operation called earthing. They are, lastly, exposed to the sun and
dried. According to Lampadius, the kernels of the West India cacao
beans contain in 100 parts, besides water, 53.1 of fat or oil, 16.7 of
an albuminous brown matter, which contains all the aroma of the bean;
10.91 of starch, 7¾ of gum or mucilage, 0.9 of lignine, and 2.01 of a
reddish dye-stuff, somewhat akin to the pigment of cochineal. The
husks form 12 per cent, of the weight of the beans. The fatty matter
is of the consistence of tallow, white, of a mild agreeable taste, and
not apt to turn rancid by keeping. It melts only at 112 degrees Fahr.,
and should, therefore, make tolerable candles. It is obtained by
exposing the beans to strong pressure in canvas bags, after they have
been steamed or soaked in boiling water for some time. From five to
six ounces of butter may be thus obtained from a pound of cacao. It
has a reddish tinge when first expressed, but it becomes white by
boiling with water.

The beans, being freed from all spoiled and mouldy portions, are to be
gently roasted over a fire in an iron cylinder, with holes in its ends