172 THE CHINESE SUGAR CANE. 
cheap and expeditious method for removing the seed 
hulls, we cannot at present say. If it can be shown that 
the hulls, are valuable for the dyes which they will yield, 
ingenuity at once will be stimulated to produce a hulling 
machine; and if, as we think very probable, it shall be 
found the starch of the seed can be readily made use of, then 
again the same causes in operation will demand such a 
machine. But, at present, Dr. Sicard has made his ex- 
periments, as I have made my own with the hulls, by 
rubbing the seeds together in such a manner as to cause 
the hulls to separate of their own accord. Dr. Sicard 
made an experiment with about 175 lbs. of the seed to 
determine the proportions of coarse bran, middlings, and 
fine flour, and obtained thirty-three pounds of each of the 
two former, and about ninety-five pounds of the latter. 
The coarse bran and middlings were both of a violet tint, 
arising from the coloring matter impregnating the outer 
lining of the hull. 'The fine flour itself offered to the eye 
an appearance of violet shghtly bordering upon a rose 
color, and even after having been passed through a silken 
sieve, was still of a very pale rosecolor. To assure him- 
self that the coloring matter which thus tinted the fine 
flour was merely contained in the outside covering of the 
seed, he undertook very minute experiments, completely 
removing all the hull and the two successive interior 
coatings before passing the seed through the mill, and 
even made use of chemical agents to remove the color. 
The result, itis true, was the production of a starch of 
very brilliant whiteness, but his experiments proved to 
my mind that the production of pure white starch will 
be a matter of considerable difficulty. Itwill havea pale 
