as a by-product in
the manufacture of cocoa, and is _consumed_ in large quantities in the
manufacture of chocolate. When, during the war, the use of sugar for
chocolate-making was restricted and little chocolate was produced, the
cacao butter formerly used in this industry was freed for other
purposes. Thus there was plenty of cacao butter available at a time when
other fats were scarce. Cacao butter has a pleasant, bland taste
resembling cocoa. The cocoa flavour is very persistent, as many
experimenters found to their regret in their efforts to produce a
tasteless cacao butter which could be used as margarine or for general
purposes in cooking. The scarcity of edible fats during the war forced
the confectioners to try cacao butter, which in normal times is too
expensive for them to use, and as a result a very large amount was
employed in making biscuits and confectionery.

Cacao butter runs hot from the presses as an amber-coloured oil, and
after nitration, sets to a pale golden yellow wax-like fat. The butter,
which the pharmacist sells, is sometimes white and odourless, having
been bleached and deodorized. The butter as produced is always pale
yellow in colour, with a semi-crystalline or granular fracture and an
agreeable taste and odour resembling cocoa or chocolate.

Cacao butter has such remarkable keeping properties (which would appear
to depend on the aromatic substances which it contains), that a myth has
arisen that it will keep for ever. The fable finds many believers even
in scientific circles; thus W.H. Johnson, in the _Imperial Institute
Handbook_ on _Cocoa_, states that: "When pure, it has the peculiar
property of not becoming rancid, however long it may be kept." Whilst
this overstates the case, we find that under suitable conditions cacao
butter will remain fresh and good for several years. Cacao butter has
rather a low melting point (90 deg. F.), so that whilst it is a hard, almost
brittle, solid at ordinary temperatures, it melts readily when in
contact with the human body (blood heat 98 deg. F). This property, together
with its remarkable stability, makes it useful for ointments, pomades,
suppositories, pessaries and other pharmaceutical preparations; it also
explains why actors have found it convenient for the removal of grease
paint. The recognition of the value of cacao butter for cosmetic
purposes dates from very early days; thus in Colmenero de Ledesma's
_Curious Treatise on the Nature and Qual