ESSAY XVIII. 



ON THE ACID OF SACCHARUM LACTIS. 1780. 



SECTION I. 



THE sugar of milk is an essential salt which is contained in 

 solution in milk, and which, on account of its sweetish taste, 

 has been called sugar. The taste of milk is the sweeter and 

 the more agreeable the more sugar it contains. Pharma- 

 ceutical chemistry teaches the manner of preparing it. 



SECTION II. 

 Sugar of milk yields by distillation the 



very same 



products as other sugars do. There is, however, one remark- 

 able circumstance, that the empyreumatic oil smells somewhat 

 like the salt of benzoin. We know that common sugar 

 contains an acid which, on account of its strong attraction 

 for all kinds of earths, especially for lime, is indispensably 

 necessary in chemical experiments. The origin of this acid 

 is the dephlogistication of the sugar by means of nitrous 

 acid. What effects are produced on the sugar of milk by 

 the latter acid, the following experiments will show : 





SECTION III. 



I poured 12 oz. of diluted nitrous acid upon 4 oz. of 



finely powdered sugar of milk, contained in a glass retort, 



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