132 SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



suo-ar added to a small meal, increased the work done by 

 his right and left hands 39 and 6 per cent, respectively, 

 while after a heavy meal increments of 8 per cent, and 16 

 per cent, were registered. Lastly, by taking 250 grams 

 (8 J oz.) of sugar in addition to the ordinary diet, the 

 work of an eight hours' day was increased 22 to 36 per cent. 



We have no reason then to be ashamed of our national 

 liking for sugar. The outcry regarding its injuriousness to 

 the teeth is not often heard now ; and one is tempted, with 

 old Lunan, to suggest that the marked preference of 

 children for sweet things may very probably be one of 

 those curious instincts which lead animals to choose their 

 proper food. 



It is interesting in view of these facts, to speculate upon 

 the connection between our national sugar bill and the 

 British taste for sports and violent exertion, so little relished 

 or almost unknown among continental nations. We read 

 that the American Indians, when making a difficult journey,' 

 used to provide themselves with a mixture of maple sugar 

 and Indian corn, in the form of pressed cakes, half meal, 

 half sugar. The well-known antiseptic properties of the 

 sugar kept the food fresh, and a few spoonfuls of the 

 mixture in half a pint of water formed a "pleasant and 

 strengthening meal ". 



The following plants produce the sugar of commerce — 

 the sugar-cane iySaccharnm officinariim) , the beetroot (a 

 variety of Beta 7)iaritwia\ the sugar maple (Acer saccha- 

 rimim) and certain tropical palms. Of these the two 

 former are vastly more important and will alone be con- 

 sidered. 



The division of commercial sugar into that obtained 

 from the beetroot and that produced by the sugar-cane is 

 a natural one. The two plants belong to very different 

 orders, and the sugar is contained in different regions of 

 the plant body. The processes by which the sugar is ex- 

 tracted are frequently dissimilar. The plants are denizens 

 respectively of temperate and tropical climates, and are 

 therefore produced under widely divergent conditions. It 



