86 ON THE PROCESS OF CLAYING SUGAR. 



with as many holes as the matter of which the mould is made 

 will admit without breaking. Let a piece of leather or other 

 flexible substance be prepared, somewhat larger than the bot- 

 tom of the mould; let there be as many points or small spikes 

 through this leather as there are holes in the moyld, and so 

 fixed that each point being within its corresponding hole 

 when the mould is set, may be withdrawn when it is ready 

 to be hauled up in the morning, by merely lifting the mould 

 from it ; the operator's feet being on the edges of the leather 

 to keep it down. The mass then would be ready pricked, and 

 this operation would be saved. 



Instead of a pot, let this mould be placed over a deep dish 

 like the bottom of a flower pot; 3 or 4 small knobs at the 

 bottom of the mould, near the edge, would be sufficient to 

 keep it above the mucus that would run into the dish, and 

 leave a free circulation of air over the surface: by this 

 means the evaporation of water from the mucus would be 

 spontaneously going on while it is collecting, and instead of 

 thin sirup to be boiled over again, a thick mass would be 

 found already in part granulated. 



To ascertain the reality of the improvement here proposed, 

 the following experiment has been made. 



Two moulds were prepared; one such as is in common use, 

 with but one issue for the sirup, the other with many issues 

 as above described. Equal quantities of sugar from the cool- 

 ers were put into each, and both went through a like process 

 in every respect. After being under clay the usual time the 

 sugar was taken out and weighed. 



The loaf of the first mould weighed six pounds two ounces, 

 that of the second weighed seven pounds fourteen ounces, 

 making a difference of twenty eight ounces in ninety eight; 

 that is a saving (without any additional labour) of nearly twenty 

 eight per cent. To this saving add the spontaneous evaporation 

 from the surface of an open dish, which it is presumed would 

 lessen the quantity of fluid, that would require another boiling, 

 at least one half. The latter part of the experiment was not 

 tried for want of convenient apparatus. 



