96 FIRESIDE SCIENCE. 



antagonisms that exist in the atoms that constitute 

 a lump of sugar : 



Here we have three of the most active of the 

 elements, grouped in a way- to produce a play of 

 affinities, powerful and opposing. The oxygen and 

 hydrogen tend, in the strongest manner, to unite 

 and form water ; they are prevented from doing so 

 by the attraction of the carbon for both of them in- 

 dividually, while for their compound, water, that ele- 

 ment has no apparent affinity whatever. The same 

 is true of the other possible direct combinations. 

 Carbon and hydrogen, carbon and oxygen, possess 

 mutual attractive powers ; but union between them 

 is impossible, so long as the opposing force of the 

 third element exists in sufficient intensity. These 

 remarks and illustrations will serve to show how 

 peculiarly organized is an atom of sugar, and what 

 forces are pent up in the tiny grains. 



The value of sugar depends upon its degree of 

 sweetness ; and as cane sugar excels in this partic- 

 ular, it is the most valuable. There is a popular 

 notion that some pure sugars are , sweeter than 



