The nature of this crunch, as it were, has been the subject of close speculation to no definite conclusion. Once, I was convinced that it was crushed walnuts. A Philistine salad lover has proposed that it is merely sugar crystals, or toasted cereal crumbs. I reject both theories. The underlying tenor of flavor, that series of subtle, possibly wholly imaginary chemical effects which are sensed on the roof of the mouth and beneath the tongue, convinces me that there is some genuine source of strength in these particles. The problem in analyzing them is that they are so small, and so totally integrated with the chocolate, that it is very difficult to separate one so as to get a look at it. I have many times managed to extract one from some crevice in my teeth only to have it disappear in an involuntary convulsion of my tongue. The few instances in which I have removed it from my mouth, delicately licked the chocolate from it, and held it up on the tip of a finger for scrutiny have convinced me that it is indeed a form of nut. It does not dissolve, so it is not sugar. It does not grow soggy, so it is not cereal. It is a pale, indeterminate shade between white and yellow, which coincides with nut nature, but it does lack the acidity which points to the walnut. It is not coconut, for not even dried and desiccated coconut can be so totally stripped of its potent taste. My conclusion for today is that the crunch is pulverized filberts, which, I have discovered, are grown in the vicinity of the Volcano Bar factory. Though Brazil nuts cannot be eliminated as a possibility, I reject them on the principle that they would require expensive importation. I must emphasize at this point that what I have labeled “crunch” is not a strenuous exercise for the jaw. It is nowhere coarse enough to introduce a noise to the chewing process, and could never irritate even totally naked gums in mastication. This crunch is a subtle fibrillation to the tongue, a delicate contrast to the smooth chocolate, one of the revelations of genius displayed in the bar as a whole.