TRANSACTIONS. 225 



of alcohol it produces, compared with the saccharine mat- 

 ter observed directly by the saccharometer. In so far as 

 the manufacture of sugar is concerned, this plant appears 

 to have but little chance of success in a northern climate, 

 as a large proportion of that which is uncrystallizable is 

 not only a loss in the manufacture, but an obstacle to the 

 extraction of what is crystallizable. 



"It must not be understood, however, that the produce 

 of this plant is unprolific or difficult to obtain, but that, 

 all things being equal, its nature renders it more abundant 

 in alcohol than in sugar. Yet it would be very different 

 in the warmer climate at the South, where the sugar-cane 

 is difficult to be obtained, in requiring protection from frost. 

 From experiments made by M. Vilmorin, on some dried 

 stalks of sorgho sent from Algeria, it proved that the pro- 

 duct of sugar obtained from them was infinitely superior 

 to that produced from the same plant which had been cul- 

 tivated near Paris. I was also informed by Mr. Wray, 

 who experimented upon the juice at Natal, that the propor- 

 tion of crystallizable sugar quite predominates where the 

 climate allows the plant fully to mature. The chief advan- 

 tage of the sorgho, as a sugar plant, is the facility of its 

 cultivation, and the easy treatment of the juice. It is 

 thought that the rough product may surpass that of the 

 sugar cane in those countries where the latter is an annu- 

 al, and, like which, its stalks and leaves will furnish an 

 abundance of nutritious forao-c for sustainino- and fatten- 

 ing animals. As the molasses, too, is identical with that 

 manufactured from the cane, it may be used in the distil- 

 lation of rum, alcoliol, and a liquor called ' tafia,' which re- 

 sembles brandy. 



'' The greatest difficulty to be apprehended, probably, 

 would be the preservation of the stalks from fermenting, 

 owing to the short time left to the manufacture. This 

 however, might be obviated, as Mr. Wray informed me 

 that, in the neigliborhood of Natal, the Zoulous-Caffcrs 

 15 



