270 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



ON THE ALLEGED PRESENCE OF SAND IN SUGAR. 



At the American Association for the Promotion of Science, August 1859, 

 Prof. Ilorsford, in a paper on the above subject, remarked, that there was, 

 perhaps, no adulteration more unhesitatingly charged upon grocers than 

 that of mixing sand with sugar. The granular condition of sand, and its 

 clean look, and its cheapness, were supposed to confer upon it such admir- 

 able adaptation, that the temptation to use it could scarcely be resisted. His 

 attention was called to this subject by a gentleman who had received from a 

 friend a present of a cask of maple sirup, who exhibited to him what he re- 

 garded as a quantity of very bright and glistening quartz sand. Although 

 the circumstances rendered such a thing exceedingly improbable, still he re- 

 garded it as an instance of adulteration, at first, on account of the resem- 

 blance of the impurity to bright, clean sand. 



A few months since, he received a specimen of deposit from maple sirup, 

 which, on examination with the microscope, was found to be composed of 

 minute, well-defined crystals ; and on further examination, the crystals were 

 found to be soluble in hydro-chloric acid, and when heated on platinum, 

 before the blow-pipe, first to blacken, and after conversion into a coal, with 

 prolonged heat, to become white. The residue effervesced with acid, and the 

 solution gave a precipitate with ammonia and acetate of ammonia, insoluble 

 in acetic acid. The sand was evidently a lime salt. Organic analysis and 

 determination of the lime showed it to be a tartrate of lime. This fact 

 shows that tartrate of lime has been sometimes mistaken for a much less 

 legitimate adulteration of maple sugar, and the burden of proof against the 

 dealers is much lessened. 



ACTION OF MORDANTS. 



O. L. Erdmann and Mittentzwey have published highly interesting exper- 

 iments on the action of mordants, especially of alum on cotton, and have 

 proved, almost to a certainty, that no chemical triple-combination takes 

 place between cellulose, alumina, and coloring matter; but that the vegeta- 

 ble fibre takes up mechanically a minute portion of the earth, which then 

 combines with the coloring matter, and that only minute portions can fasten 

 a color, since an excess of the mordant will act as resolvent. 



IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STRAW-PAPER. 



The following are the main points of an improved process for the manu- 

 facture of straw-paper, recently patented in England, by R. H. Collyer. The 

 straw is first soaked or boiled in water to render it soft, then it is subjected 

 to a cutting action, and also to a grinding-macliine. This latter operation 

 seems to be the improved feature. The straw is rubbed between grinding 

 surfaces until every knot is crushed and made into impalpable pulp. In 

 this finely subdivided state, the pulp is boiled in a strong caustic alkali, 

 which dissolves all the silica (hard specks), and reduces it to a fine condi- 

 tion. It is then bleached, and treated in the usual way. 



HOW TO RESTORE THE WRITING OF DAMAGED LETTERS. 



Alfred Smee, of London, F. R. S., publishes the following directions for 

 restoring the legibility of letters, etc., that have become damaged by the 

 action of sea-water. 



