106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



This is the whole process for making " sugar out of corn ; " 

 and it is simple enough. In this chemical transformation 

 nothing is absorbed from the air, and no other substances 

 but dextrine and grape-sugar are generated, and the weight 

 of the sugar exceeds that of the starch employed. . What is 

 still more wonderful, the acid used undergoes neither ciiange 

 nor diminution : it is all withdrawn in its original amount 

 after the boiling is completed. If it could be withdrawn in 

 its clear, uncombined state, one carboy of oil of vitriol would 

 serve to change all the corn grown in the United States into 

 grape-sugar. Theoretically one pound of corn ought to 

 make a pound of solid glucose, but in practice it does not 

 quite do this. The cost of solid glucose to large manufac- 

 turers cannot exceed three cents a pound, and it may fall 

 considerably below this. 



Nothing can be more paradoxical to the popular reader 

 than the statement that sugar is produced by the use of one 

 of the most powerful mineral acids known to chemists. To 

 explain clearly and fully the chemistry of the reactions 

 involved in the process would require more space than we 

 have at command ; and also, to understand the nature of the 

 changes, more scientific knowledge would be required than 

 is possessed by ordinary readers. 



Glucose is a cheap, imperfect substitute for the genuine 

 sugar of commerce. It is not a poison when well made ; 

 and, as regards its healthfulness, it may not be much more 

 deleterious than ordinary cane-sugar. Still, it does produce 

 and aggravate dyspeptic symptoms ; and, by its proneness to 

 set up fermentative processes, its use causes flatulency, and 

 painful affections of the bowels. 



What becomes of the millions of pounds of glucose manu- 

 factured in the Western States every month? It is used 

 mostly as an adulterant in the manufacture of table sirups, 

 and in adulterating the dark, moist sugars used largely by 

 the poor. Its next largest use is in the manufacture of 

 candies. All soft candies, waxes, taffies, caramels, choco- 

 lates, etc., are made of glucose. Children are therefore 

 large consumers of this substance. The honey-bees, also, are 

 fond of it, and will carry it away by the ton, if placed 

 within their reach. The honey made from it is no better 

 than the pure glucose, as it is stowed away in the comb 

 without change. Human ingenuity, it is stated, has reached 



