SUGARS. - 101 



care, and economy, in small things as well as in great, are 

 general essentials for business success; and, if they are 

 ignored, "we cannot afford to grow corn," and may soon 

 reach the condition where we cannot afford to buy it. 



Adjourned to evening. 



Evening Session. 



At the evening session the following lecture was deliv- 

 ered : — 



THE SUGARS: THEIR CHEMICAL NATURE AND HISTORY. 



ABSTRACT OF LECTURE BY DE. JAMES R. NICHOLS. 



The terra " sweet " is applied to certain solids and liquids 

 which possess the capability of impressing upon the nerves 

 of taste a peculiar sensation, which is to most people, and 

 especially to children, very agreeable. There is no body or 

 substance which has a distinct physical or chemical property 

 which constitutes sweetness; or, in other words, sweetness 

 as a thing does not exist. All we know about it is, that cer- 

 tain molecules of matter grouped in certain forms have the 

 power of producing upon the moist surfaces of the mouth 

 and tongue the agreeable sensation called "sweet." The 

 degree of sweetness is due to the manner in which the mole- 

 cules are grouped, as intensity or feebleness depends upon 

 the slightest modification in the molecular structure of a 

 body. When the "sweet principle" of plants is spoken of, it 

 is meant that in the sap, with water, are associated some 

 groups of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, so arranged as to 

 produce the sensation of sweetness; and by the intensity of 

 the sensation it can be told how they are grouped. Analysis 

 shows the structure of sweet bodies, but nothing more. So 

 far as science is capable of explaining things, it often fails at 

 the most interesting stage of inquiry ; and this is the case 

 with sweets. It fails to show why a lump of sugar is sweet, 

 and a drop of vinegar or acetic acid is sour. The point where 

 light ceases to fall upon the pathway of the investigator is 

 that where curiosity and interest most intensely centre. Why 

 bodies are sweet, sour, or bitter, can never be known : the 

 mystery belongs to that department of organic life not open 



