from European Vegetable ProduB'tons. 209 



an agreeable, fweet, and fomewhat (liarp tafte, and, being 

 properly exprefled, gave a colourlefs fweet juicc. After cla- 

 ififyino; it with the white of an egg, I drained the clear liquor 

 through -k piece of woollen cloth, infpiflated it to the proper 

 conlillcncc, and obtained an agreeable fyrup of an inferior 

 quality to that procured from the white beet, and beta vul- 

 garis altiffuiid, but equal to common fyrup. By another 

 experiment, I learned that a bufliel containing 125 rbots, 

 weio-hinf^ 116 pounds, is capable of producing eight pounds 

 of fyrup.. At the end of twelve weeks I found cryftals of 

 fugar fliot up in it; but they were exceedingly brown, and 

 could be feparated only with difficulty from the remaining 

 mafs. 



13. Experiments ivith the Cabbage Turnip, Braffica 

 napobraffica. 



The juicy nature of thefe turnips, as well as the agreeable 

 fweet talle of their juice, iriduced me to try whether I could 

 obtain from them fugar and fyrup. Having peeled and 

 irafped fixtyof them, which weighed 123 pounds, I obtained 

 from them, by expreffion, about twenty-two quarts of co- 

 lourlefs juice, which was agreeably fweet, but had at the 

 fame time a (harp radifh-likc tafte. I boiled it twice; by 

 which means a great deil of flaky matter feparated from it, 

 and the liquor became perfeftly clear. I tiltered it after it 

 had cooled, added to it twenty quarts of frefli lime-water, 

 and boiled it flowly. While boiling, the fliarp radifliy mat- 

 ter was evaporated, and I at length obtained ten pounds of 

 tranfparcnt brownifli-yellow fyrup, which had a perfeiSt re- 

 fcniblance to that obtained from the black bi^ch, but which 

 had the fame foreign tafte. In order to procure fugar from 

 it, I put a portion of it into a vefTel in which I placed glafs 

 rods, lufTered it to evaporate flowly, and at the end of fome 

 weeks found fmall cryftals of fugar adhering to the rods, but 

 the quantity I Was unable to determine. As this turnip is 

 dearer than the \Vhite beet and the beta vulgaris altiJJlmHf 

 and gives a lefs pleafant fyrup even than common turnips, 

 it muft in this rcfpe^^ be ccftifidered as inferior to thefe three 

 kinds. 

 Vol. VII, E e I4. Ex- 



