It is now a decade since the appearance of the last edition, and owing to continual delays in the compiling of the present volume, the book has been out of print for several years. These delays ensued because the editor wished to take into account the most recent determinations and decrees of the guilds and various legislative factors connected with the industry; but he was at length forced to the conclusion that notwithstanding the excellent organisation and lofty standing of the branch under consideration, it was useless to wait for anything final and absolute in such a field. Suggestions of possible improvements and indications of blemishes are therefore earnestly invited, in order that they may be duly allowed for in the event of a new edition.-The plan followed by Zipperer has been adopted in the main; a tribute due to its previous success. Yet on the other hand, the arrangement of the book has undergone some alteration, and is, at least in the editor's opinion, a perceptible improvement.-All scientific, industrial and technical progress has been treated as fully as possible, the economic part in particular having been diligently recast.It would, of course, have been impossible for the editor to write all these chapters without external aid, his knowledge of the respective branches being by no means exhaustive enough. He may therefore be allowed to express here his obligation and thanks to all his fellow-workers; and in particular, to the Association of German Chocolate Manufacturers, Dresden; its managing director, Herr Greiert; the director of the Cocoa Purchase Co., Hamburg, Herr Rittscher, who contributed the whole of the chapter headed; Commercial Varieties of Cacao Beans; further to Prof. Dr. H�rtel, Chief Inspector of the Royal Research Institute, Leipsic; Dr. R. B�hme, Managing Director of Messrs. Stollwerck Bros. Chemical Laboratory, Cologne; and to Superintendent Engineer Schneider, of the firm J. M. Lehman, Dresden, among many others. Mention must also be made of the manufacturers who so kindly placed material at the editor's disposal. Let us hope that the work will meet with a success corresponding to the pains taken by the editor and publishers, and prove a really serviceable Handbook to the Chocolate Industry.The object of this work is to furnish a source of information and advice for those who are interested in the branch of industry to which it relates.The author of this treatise has therefore endeavoured not only to describe the manufacturing processes; but he has also devoted special attention to the raw materials employed, and endeavoured to make them generally familiar by reference to the literature on the subject, as well as by providing a precise account of the chemical constituents of these substances and discussing the consequently necessary procedure to be observed in the course of manufacture. The art of chocolate making is no longer what it was a few decades ago; it has for the most part passed from small operators into the hands of large manufacturers. A short historical resum� will serve as a sketch of this development and a cursory description of some forms of apparatus which have now merely historical interest will serve to show how improvement in the industry has been effected.