SUGAK INSECT. 



SUGAR INSECT, THE (Acarus sacchari). 

 Professor Cameron, of Dublin, writes: "In 

 my capacity of public analyst for the city of 

 Dublin, I have had occasion to examine, more 

 or less minutely, nearly 150 specimens of sugar, 

 in quality varying from the purest white to 

 the darkest brown. The greater number of 

 these samples were perfectly genuine : some 

 were of rather indifferent quality: and the 

 rest about 15 were so impure as to be quite 

 unfit for use : they abounded in organic filth, 

 and contained great numbers of disgusting in- 

 sects. All the samples of very inferior sugar 

 were of the kind known as raw ; and in no 

 instance did I detect in the refined article the 

 slightest trace of any substance injurious to 

 the health or repugnant to the feelings. 



" The insects found in sugar are beetles and 

 Acari, or mites. The beetles, which are more 

 familiarly known to the sugar-dealers than to 

 the general public, may frequently be seen run- 

 ning nimbly along the tables in the sugar 

 warerooms. The Acari are minute insects, 

 and do not attract attention. There are sev- 

 eral kinds of Acari : the cheese-mite, the in- 

 sect found in partially decomposed flour, and 

 the minute parasite, which, by burrowing be- 

 neath the skin, produces the disease termed 

 the itch are all different varieties of Acari. 

 The mite found in raw sugar, termed the Aca- 

 rus sacchari, or sugar-insect, is a formidably- 

 organized, exceedingly lively, and decidedly 

 ugly, little animal. From its oval-shaped body 

 stretches forth a proboscis terminating in a kind 

 of scissors, with which it seizes upon its food. 

 Its organs of locomotion consist of eight legs, 

 each jointed and furnished at its extremity with 

 a hook. In the sugar, its movements from one 

 place to another are necessarily very slow, but, 

 when placed on a perfectly clean and dry sur- 

 face, it moves along with great rapidity. 



" The itch is produced by an Acarus making 

 burrows beneath the skin, and depositing 

 therein its eggs; and hence the insect has 

 been named the Acarus scabiei, or scab-mite. 

 Mange in horses, cattle, and dogs, and scab in 

 sheep, are essentially the same disease as itch 

 in man. Now, it is a noteworthy fact that 

 grocers' assistants and sugar warehouse-men 

 are peculiarly liable to a kind of itch which 

 affects their hands and wrists, but does not ex- 

 tend to any other part. These persons are 

 usually of cleanly habits, and do not belong to 

 the classes amongst whom the ordinary itch is 

 so prevalent ; there is, therefore, but one way 

 of accounting for their tendency to contract 

 that disease namely, that the Acarus sacchari, 

 having, like its congener, Acarus scaliei, bur- 

 rowing propensities, bores into their skin, and 

 breeds there. The two kinds of Acari resem- 

 ble each other very closely, but the sugar in- 

 sect appears to be the larger and more formi- 

 dable. So common is this pustulous disease 

 amongst persons engaged in the 'handling' 

 (i. e. mixing) of sugar, that it has been termed 

 the * grocer's itch.' 



" The number of Acari found in raw sugar 

 is sometimes exceedingly great, and in no in- 

 stance is the article quite free from either the 

 insects or their eggs. Dr. Hassall (who was 

 the first to notice their general occurrence in 

 the raw sugar sold in London) found them in 

 a living state in no fewer than 69 out of 72 

 samples. He did not detect them in a single 

 specimen of refined sugar. The results of my 

 examination of the sugar sold in Dublin coin- 

 cided pretty closely with Dr. Hassall's experi- 

 ence. In the refined sorts, I found nothing 

 but crystallizable and non-crystallizable sugar, 

 and a little saline matter ; in the raw kinds, 

 organic and mineral filth often in great 

 abundance. In one of the samples examined, 

 very inferior sugar, extremely damp, contain- 

 ing a very large proportion of treacle, and a 

 considerable amount of such impurities as 

 sporules of a fungus, particles of cane, albu- 

 men, and starch granules, it is no exaggeration 

 to affirm that there could not be less than 

 100,000 of these insects in every pound of this 

 sugar. Many persons believe that coarse 

 brown sugar sweetens better, or, to use the 

 common phrase, 'goes farther,' than white 

 sugar ; but that is a mistake. A teaspoonful 

 of damp brown sugar will certainly sweeten a 

 larger quantity of fluid than a spoonful of white 

 sugar ; but it does so because it is much heavi- 

 er than the latter; but if equal weights be 

 used it will be found that the white variety is 

 by far the better sweetener. The kind of sugar 

 which is both healthful and economical is the 

 dry, large-grained, and light-colored variety. 



" Two samples of the sugar were also ex- 

 amined, one by Dr. John Barker, curator of 

 the Eoyal College of Surgeons, Ireland ; the 

 other by Dr. Hassall, of London, a very emi- 

 nent authority upon the subject. In 15 grains' 

 weight, Dr. Hassall found considerably over 

 100 living insects, or at the rate of 42,000 per 

 pound ; and Dr. Barker estimated no fewer 

 than 1,400 in 45 grains' weight, or at the rate 

 of 268,000 Acari in each pound weight of 

 sugar. 



"With the exception of the date-sugar made 

 in the East,* every kind of raw sugar contains 

 Acari. They are least numerous in the very 

 damp, treacley kinds, because, as they are air- 

 breathing animals, they cannot exist in treacle 

 or water. If a spoonM of raw sugar be dis- 

 solved in a wineglassful of water, the animal- 

 cules will speedily come to the surface, from 

 which they may be skimmed off and trans- 

 ferred to the object-glass of the microscope. 

 On the surface of the water they appear as 

 white specks, and, as they swim about vigor- 

 ously, their movements are quite apparent to 

 the naked eye. 



" The Acari sacchari do not occur in refined 

 sugar of any quality, for the following reasons : 

 1. Because they cannot pass through the char- 



* The date-sugar, which is free from Acari, is practi- 

 cally a refined kind ; its crystals having been repeatedly 

 * 4 clayed," or washed with water. 



