d instance of this is glycerine
as a by-product in soap manufacture--but no use for the husk or shell of
cacao, which gives it any considerable commercial value, has yet been
discovered. There are signs, however, that its possible uses are being
considered and appreciated.

For years small quantities of cacao shell, under the name of
"miserables," have been used in Ireland and other countries for
producing a dilute infusion for drinking. Although this "cocoa tea" is
not unpleasant, and has mild stimulating properties, it has never been
popular, and even during the war, when it was widely advertised and sold
in England under fancy names at fancy prices, it never had a large or
enthusiastic body of consumers.

In normal times the cocoa manufacturer has no difficulty in disposing of
his shell to cattle-food makers and others, but during 1915 when the
train service was so defective, and transport by any other means almost
impossible, the manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate were unable to get
the shell away from their factories, and had large accumulations of it
filling up valuable store space. In these circumstances they attempted
to find a use near at hand. It was tried with moderate success as a fuel
and a considerable quantity was burned in a special type of gas-producer
intended for wood.

Cacao shell has a high nitrogenous content, and if burned yields about
67 lbs. of potassium carbonate per ton. In the Annual Report of the
Experimental Farms in Canada, (1898, p. 151 and 1899, p. 851,) accounts
are given of the use of cacao shell as a manure. The results given are
encouraging, and experiments were made at Bournville. At first these
were only moderately successful, because the shell is extremely stable
and decomposes in the ground very slowly indeed. Then the head gardener
tried hastening the decomposition by placing the shell in a heap,
soaking with water and turning several times before use. In this way the
shell was converted into a decomposing mass before being applied to the
ground, and gave excellent results both as a manure and as a lightener
of heavy soils.

On the Continent the small amount of cacao butter which the shell
contains is extracted from it by volatile solvents. The "shell butter"
so obtained is very inferior to ordinary cacao butter, and as usually
put on the market, has an unpleasant taste, and an odour which reminds
one faintly of an old tobacco-pipe. In this unrefined condition it is
obvio