TRIANDRIA, 



41 



the creation ; while the Palms were the princes, and 

 Lilies were the nobles. His tribes are thus arranged. 

 1. Palmae. 2.Gramina. 3.Lilia. 4. Herbae. 5. Arbores. 

 6. Filices. 7. Musci. 8. Algae. Q. Fungi. 



COMMON SUGAR-CANE. Saccharum offici- 

 narum. The Sugar-Cane is a native of Africa and Lower 

 Asia, as well as the East Indies, and Arabia Felix: 

 it is also said to grow spontaneously in America, but 

 on the other hand it is asserted that it was not known 

 in those regions till the Europeans colonized them. 

 For a considerable time, however, it has been most in- 

 dustriously and successfully cultivated in the American 

 Islands situated within the tropics, and it is from these 

 plantations that we now derive the greatest part of our 

 supply of sugar. 



Very many vegetables secrete a sweet juice, easily 

 converted into sugar. From a species of Maple, Acer 

 saccharina, sugar is annually obtained in America in 

 considerable quantities ; in Mexico it is obtained from 

 the American Aloe, Agave Americana; and at Kam- 

 schatska it is produced from the Heracleum syphondy- 

 lium and Fucus saccharinus: many roots also afford 

 sugar, as Carrots, Parsnips, &c. 



The plant here represented produces the sugar in 

 common use, which is prepared from its expressed 

 juice boiled with the addition of quick lime, or com- 

 mon vegetable alkali, to saturate the superfluous acid. 

 The boiling is repeated in smaller and smaller ves- 

 sels, during which time it is often necessary to scum 

 the impurities,, and employ additional alkali $ when 



