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XIX. Of an Attempt to make the Maple Sugar a love an 

 hundred Tears ago. Communicated by Dr. THORNTON, 

 Letlurer on Medical Botany at Guys Hofpital, &c. 



T 



JLT appears, by the following correfpondence between 

 Dr. Robinfon and Mr. Ray, that the property of the Ame- 

 rican maple of yielding a faccharine juice was known above 

 a century ago, and that attempts were even made to pro- 

 duce fugar from it : 



Dr. Robinson to Mr. Rat. 

 " Bear Sir, London, March 10, 1684. 



<c I have enclofed you fome fugar of the firft boiling got 

 from the juice of the wounded maple : Mr. Afhton, Secre- 

 tary to the Royal Society, prefented it to me. 'Twas fent 

 from Canada, where the natives prepare it from the faid juice ; 

 eight pints yielding commonly a pound of fugar. The In- 

 dians have pra&ifed it time out of mind ; the French begin 

 now to refine it, and to turn it to much advantage. If you 

 have any of thefe trees by you, could you not make the 

 rial, proceeding as with the fugar cane ?" 



Anfiuer to Dr. Robinson. 



" Black Nctley, April r, 1684. 

 " Yours of the loth inftant I received, and therein an 

 enclofed fpecimen of the Canada fugar, a thing to me 

 firange and before unheard of. It were well worth the 

 experiment you mention. I therefore engaged a friend 

 and neighbour of mine, an ingenious apothecary, whom I 

 employed yefterday to boil the juice of the greater maple, 

 a tree which grows freely half a mile off from my refidence. 

 Having made an extract, he found a whitifh fubftance, like 

 to brown fugar, and tailing very fweet, immerfed in a 

 fubftance of the colour and confiftency of moloffes. Upon 

 curing, I have no doubt it will make perfect fugar. "When 

 it is cured, I will give you a farther account of it." 



Here 



