338 0« the ProduSihn of Sugar, t^c. 



is called fweet-lerh, and latfch by the people of Kaintfchatka. According to GmcUn it doc* 

 not differ from the common acanthus , but according to others it conftitutes a particular 

 fpccles (fphcndyUum panaces). The Kamtfchadales gather its ftems and the large fValks of 

 their leaves in June, and feparate ihem from the foliage, fcrape ofFthe outer. rinds with (hells 

 of mufcles, and dry them by expofure to the fun. 



^I'hefs dried flalks arc ufually chewed by the Kamtfehadalcs, to fuck out the faccharinc 

 fubftance. After the moiflure cf the juice has evaporated in the fun, the external furface 

 of the ftalks becomes covered with a white faccharine meal, which is feparated by {baking 

 them in leathern bags, and is preferved for the fami ufes as powder- fu:>ar. Forty pounds of 

 defiocated ftalks are faixl to yield hardly fo much as oiji-fourth of a pound of thiis mealy fuo-ar, 

 which confequently is a fcarce article. Befrdes this ufe, .the ftems and roots of the bear's- 

 breech are likevvife employed by the natives of Kamtfchatka for making brandy *. 



That I might be enabled to make experiments on this fubje£l myfelf,- the late Profeflbr 

 'Jungham at Halle fent me fome young plants of the Heracleum ftbirlcum, which the year 

 following were the fubject of my enquiries. 



However, as I did not find the ftalks of this plant in any refpedl io rich in fuo-ar as thofe 

 growing in Siberia are ftated to be, I colledted their roots laft autumn, the quantity beino- 

 four pounds. Their tafte is fweetifh, like that of parfneps. I parted one root from its 

 outer rind, and fuffered it to dry, but could not perceive any faccharine cruft ; for this rea- 

 fon, [ ordered all the four pounds to be grated, kneaded with water, and the juice to be then 

 preffed out, which exhibited a fweetifli, flightly fliarp tafte. It was next boiled with fome 

 white of eggs, and the clarified juice infpiflated to the thicknefs of a fyrup. A brown and 

 not unpleafant fyrup, amounting to fix ounces, was in this way obtained, which, after three 

 months, afforded brown granular cryftals of fugar, contaminated, however, by a foreign 

 flavour. Hence it is proved, that fugar may be produced from this plant ; but that in an 

 economical confideration it would not be ferviceable either for fugar or for a fyrup, as 

 both would be too expenfive : this plant, when growing in our foil, is probably lefs facchari- 

 ferous than that in Kamtfchatka. 



f. Experiments for obtaining Sugar from Afujl, or the Juict of Grapes. 



Muft, obtained by prefliure from perfeftly ripe grapes, evidently fliews, by its fweet tafte, 

 the great quantity of faccharine matter it contains, though indeed enveloped in a large pro- 

 portion of mucilaginous matter. In order to examine the poffibility of producing true fugar 

 from it, or leaft a fyrup proper for ufe, the following operations were performed : 



Eight Berlin quarts f of muft, procured from completely ripe and fweet wine grapes by 

 mere draining, were mixed with whites of eggs, and heated to boiling, and then filtered. 



• Gmelin Flora Sibirica. torn. I. p. 214. — Allgemeine Reifen zu WaflTtr, etc. XXThcil. page 159.— Stral- 

 fun. difches Magazin. cit. 



t The Berlin quart holds 58 tubic inches of the former French n'.eafure ; tl e Englijb mn&tytarl only 

 47i of them. Tranflator. ^ 



The 



