474 Philofophical News, 



lay open his patents and procefles, becaufc he is difpofed to wait a few months to afcertain 

 whether he may form any pecuniary conne£tions which may render his difcoveries benefi- 

 cial to liimfelf, as well as the public. In the cafe of fuch furrender he fhall think himfelf 

 at liberty to offer his fervices to foreign nations. 



I cannot attempt to give my readers any abridgment of an index, or table of contents; 

 and ftill lefs am I enabled to enter upon any of the fubje£ls which are hinted at, and bear 

 relation to the undertakings of the author, and the depreflions his exertions may have fuf- 

 fered. The chief objects of the earl's refearches and inventions are well known to the 

 public. The preparation and purification of alkalis, the manufadture of foap, and its ufes 

 with different waters ; new methods of making cerufe, alum, and other falts; improvements 

 in the manufacture of iron ; analyfis of foffd coal, with the qualities and ufes of its pro- 

 dufls, coak, coal tar, coal oil, ammoniac ; analyfis of wheat, produdtion of fugar, and of ve- 

 getable alkali ; examination and treatment of ftarch makers' liquor, &c. &c. are among the 

 fubjefts enumerated in this profpedus. 



Sugar from the white Beet. 



Mr. Accum has prefented me with famples of this fugar received from Berlin, where I un- 

 derftand it is now very commonly manufadured. The written account of the culture, pro- 

 duce, and cheapnefs received at the fame time, appearing to want fome corrections, I fliall 

 only ftate at prefent that the famples were i. a brown or pale ftraw coloured fugar, in lumps 

 or agglutinated grains, forming acoarfe dry powder. It is not veryfweet, and has a peculiar, 

 though not ftrong, fmell, which I think refembles that of fome articles of confe£tionary con- 

 fifting of fugar and flour heated or fried together. Of this fugar the beet is ftated to afford 

 five per cent, of its weight, leaving a pulp which is an excellent food for cattle. 2. A re- 

 fined fugar, in very fmall cryftalline grains, forming a powder of which the particles arc 

 flightly difpofed to adhere, and which, when laid upon writing paper, has very nearly the 

 fame whitenefs. I could not afcertain the figure of any of the grains under a deep mag- 

 nifier, as molt of them feem to be partly rounded. It has no foreign fmell or tafte. 

 Equal weights of this and of good loaf fugar were feparately diffolved in equal weights of 

 water ; and fix out of feven gentlemen, who were prefent, and tafted the folutions, without 

 knowing which was the beet fugar, determined that the folution of this lafl: was the 

 fweeteft. I was among thofe who thought fo : but it appeared to me that its flavour re- 

 fembled a coarfer fugar than that againft which it was tried. From this notion I afterwards 

 took two wine glaffcs of water, and fweetened the one with beet fugar, and the other with 

 loaf fugar, with the addition of a fmall proportion of fine moift fugar. When the taftes 

 refembled each other as nearly as I could bring them, I fubmitted them to the judgment of 

 the company prefent who, from the irregularity of their conje£tures, did not feem to find 

 any notable difference. And when I myfelf again took up the gljffes without noticing the 

 diftin£tive marks, ?rd endeavoured by the tafl:e to determine which was the beet fugar, it 



happened 



