CHEMICAL RESEARCHES. 241 
The latter, on being evaporated to a thick syrup, gave 90 grains of 
saccharine matter, or 9 per cent. on the weight of the stalk. Another 
sample gave from 23 ounces of the pith, 217 grains of thick syrup, or 
12 per cent. Thus we have from 180 to 240 pounds of saccharine 
matter, in the form of a dense syrup, to a ton (2,000 pounds) of the 
stalks. By means of a screw press, I separated the juice from some 
of the canes, which had a specific gravity of 1:0987. 
Being desirous of ascertaining the saccharine value of the sorghum 
raised in Massachusetts, I obtained from Capt. R. A. Wainwright, of 
the United States Arsenal, at Watertown, in this state, five plants, 
which had been cultivated on the arsenal grounds. Sixteen ounces of 
one of these plants, nearly ripe, gave 94 ounces of clear pith, which I 
exhausted of its saccharine matter by means of boiling, distilled water, 
and pressure. This liquid, on evaporation, gave 742 grains of thick 
syrup, too dense to pour from the vessel when cold. The yield of 
saccharine matter in this case was 10? per cent. 
Another and riper sample, from the same parcel, yielded from 1,000 
grains of the stalk 640 grains of pith, and 146 grains of thick syrup, 
or 143 per cent. of saccharine matter. On expression, the plant 
yielded a clear, sweet juice, having a specific gravity of 1-0975. 
Analysis of the Bagasse——One hundred grains, dried at 212° F. and 
burned in a platinum vessel, left 12 per cent. of gray ashes. Having 
thus determined the proportion of inorganic matter in the bagasse, I 
burned a larger quantity for further experiment. It was found that 
the ash consisted of the following ingredients : 
Per cent. 
Silicic acid - : - . 3 4 EAD 
SONNE CUD nw a YL AS 
Sulphuric acid - - - 2 i - 28-70 
Chlorine - : e : . z 7 bs 3-70 
Potash - = = “ e * Mi 3 5 Sag 
Soda. - - - - = = “3 R £ 9-60 
Lime - - - ~ - s = 2 ~ Et-80 
Magnesia - - - x S 3 _ 9-80 
Traces of oxyd of iron, a little carbonic acid, and loss 0°68 
100-00 
11 
