102 Dr. Prout on the ultimate Composition 



of the best refined sugars of commerce. For a specimen of 

 the maple sugar I was indebted to Mr. Faraday; this, when 

 I received it, was very impure and deliquescent, but by treat- 

 ing it by the process above alluded to, a portion was separated 

 that differed but little in its appearance from cane sugar. The 

 beet-root sugar was made and refined in France; it was per- 

 fectly white, but rather soft and fine in the grain. The East 

 India moist sugar was of a very low kind, and known in com- 

 merce by the name of Burdwan sugar; it was deprived of its 

 hygrometric moisture before analysis by exposure to sulphuric 

 acid under a receiver. The diabetic sugar was prepared as 

 above ; the results given were obtained many years ago, and 

 I have had no opportunity of repeating the analysis with the 

 present apparatus ; I believe however that diabetic sugars in 

 general belong to the honey variety. The sugar of starch was 

 prepared by myself in the usual manner. 



Of Amylaceous Principles. 



Before we proceed to consider the analysis of amylaceous 

 bodies, a few remarks on the nature of these and similar sub- 

 stances may not be deemed improper. It has been known 

 from the very infancy of chemistry, that all organized bodies, 

 besides the elements of which they are essentially composed, 

 contain minute quantities of different foreign bodies, such as 

 the earthy and alkaline salts, iron, &c. These have been usually 

 considered as mere mechanical mixtures accidentally present ; 

 but I can by no means subscribe to this opinion. Indeed, much 

 attention to this subject for many years past has satisfied me 

 that they perform the most important functions ; in short, that 

 organization cannot take place without them. This point will 

 be more fully investigated hereafter : at present it is sufficient 

 merely to observe, that many of those remarkable changes 

 which crystallized bodies undergo on becoming organized, are 

 more apparent than real ; that is to say, their chemical com- 

 position frequently remains essentially the same ; and the only 

 points of difference that can be traced, is the presence of a little 

 more or less of water, or the intimate mixture of a minute 

 portion of some foreign fixed body. There is no term at {pre- 

 sent employed which expresses this condition of bodies, and 

 hence, to avoid circumlocution, I have provisionally adopted 

 the term merorganized*, (ftsgo; pars vel partim,) meaning to 

 imply by it that bodies on passing into this state become partly, 

 or to a certain extent, organized. Thus starch I consider as 

 merorganized sugar, the two substances having, as we shall see 



* I am indebted to my friend Mr. Lunn for this term. 



„^ presently, 



