CONFLICTING OPIXIONS. 6 



nearly every important poiut of the subject eutertaiued by the several 

 authorities quoted. 



A few ouly of the more important points of this inquiry have been 

 selected as illustrations, and the conclusions reached are grouped under 

 each head and chronologically arranged. 



Of the kind of Sur/ar present in the juice of Sorghum. 



a. In a paper by D. Jay Brown (Annual Report, Department of 

 Agricultui-e, 1856, p. 310;, he says: 



Mr. Hervej-, of France, contends that there is no uncrystallizable sugar 

 pre-existing in the cane (sorghum), and that the formation of glucose (grape 

 sugar), or molasses, is only owing to the action of the salts contained in the 

 liquid during the manufacturing process. 



b. Dr. C. T. Jackson (Annual Report, Department of Agriculture 

 1857, p. 187), says: 



There is no doubt that this plant (sorghum), when unripe, contains only 

 grape sugar. 



c. Dr. J. Lawrence Smith, in a paper detailing the results of his in- 

 vestigations of sorghum (Annual Report, Department of Agriculture 

 1857, p. 192), says: 



This result settles the question thai the great bulk of the sugar contained in 

 the sorgho is crystallizahle, or cane sugar proper. 



And again, giving his final conclusions, he says : 



1. The sorgho contains about 10 per cent of crj'Stallizable sugar. 



2. The sugar can be obtained bj' processes analogous to those employed for 

 extracting sugar from other plants. 



In an article entitled " Contributions to the knowledge of the nature 

 of the Chinese sugar-cane " (Tran.sactions Xew York State Agricultural 

 Society, 1861, p. 785), by Dr. C. A. Goessmann, he says, p. 789: 



The facts so far obtained prove, that, besides cane sugar, no other kind of 

 sugar exists in the juice of the ripe and sound sorghum-cane. 



Again, in describing the general properties of the sorghum-cane 

 juice, he says, p. 798 : 



I have already mentioned, that the results which I obtained entitled me to be- 

 lieve that cane sugar is the only kind of sugar that exists in that juice. 



And on page 808, he says, of results in extracting sugar from sor- 

 ghum : 



These results are very encouraging, as they show that more than half 

 the sugar, or 5 per cent out of 9 to 9i per cent, in the juice can be sepa- 

 rated. When Achard established the first beet sugar manufactory in Silesia, he 

 was able to separate only from B to 4 per cent of sugar, although IO2 per cent 

 was present; and the French manufactories were quite contented, when they 

 succeeded in extracting from 4 to 5 per cent of sugar. The history of the de- 



