SUCEATES OF LENIE AND STROXTIA. O t 1 



porimeDts mar soon be made to determine the exact method of pro- 

 cedure, by which the small farmer could convert the juice of his sor- 

 ghum into a permanent, portable, and commercial product, Avithout 

 the trouble and expense of trying to make sugar. 



Sucrate of Strontia. 



Professor Scheibler, of Berlin, Germany, has recently patented a 

 process, for the recovery of sugar from molasses, in which he substitutes 

 strontia for lime, forming the tri-basic sucrate of strontia, which, like 

 the corresponding lime compound, is afterward decompcsed by car- 

 bonic acid, and the sugar recovered. 



The advantage of this modification is, that the strontia compound is 

 less soluble than that of lime, and it may be more readily obtained 

 free from the impurities with which it is associated in its production. 



The details, in brief, of this process, are as follows : The molasses 

 or syrup is diluted to such an extent, that, when heated to a tempera- 

 ture of from 70° to 75° C. (15':^° to 1(37° F.), it will dissolve enough 

 of the somewhat difficultly soluble strontia hydrate to form a tri-basic 

 sucrate of strontia, with all the sugar present in the molasses or syrup. 

 Or a solution of the strontia hydrate in water may be added to the 

 molasses sufficient to form the tri-basic sucrate, allowing 364.5 parts 

 by weight of strontia hydrate to 342 parts by weight of sugar present 

 in the molasses or syrup to be operated upon, or 106.6 per cent of the 

 weight of the sugar calculated to be present. The objection to this 

 method of procedure being, that the solutit)n would thus be rendered 

 too dilute, since the strontia hydrate is much less soluble in water than 

 in a solution of sugar. 



In practice, tlie diluted molasses is run into a sheet-iron vessel, sur- 

 rounded by a steam jacket, and provided v.ith a stirring apparatus, by 

 which the molasses is stirred up with the strontia hydrate, an excess of 

 which has been previously added in the solid condition to the sheet- 

 iron receptacle. So soon as the sugar of the molasses has become 

 saturated with strontia, care being taken tliat the temperature be not 

 allowed to arise above 75° C, tlie solution of strontium sucrate, and the 

 other impurities of the molasses, is drawn off into another vessel, leav- 

 ing behind the excess of undissolved strontia hydrate for a subsequent 

 lot of molasses. This second vessel receiving the solution, is also pro- 

 vided with stirring apparatus, and, in this vessel, the sulutiou is heated 

 to the boiling pinnt, at which temperature the strontium sucrate is de- 

 posited from the solution in the form of a heavy sandy powder, which, 

 rmlike the corresponding gelatinous and voluminous calcium sucrate, 

 deposits quickly and may be easily filtered. The filtration of the de- 



