im 



FA K M KRS' 11K(J 1ST ?■: R, 



[No. 2 



the juice by the isulphunc acid, appeared in flakes 

 lou \\^j:\\1 10 be divided from the nius!--, but, in con- 

 seciuence of the. heat, this matter became consis- 

 tent, an object to which the niill< contributed not a 

 Jiitle. 



"All the particles separated frnm the juice float- 

 ed on the surluce, ffirminir a dark crust, in one 

 piece, easily renioveil witii a copper skinuner. 

 Underneath, the juice is found perlectiy clear." 



So fiir M. Aeiiard, whose system has neverthe- 

 less been adojjted but by one manufacturer, within 

 the knowIed<re of the author, viz., M. Crespel 

 d' Arras, who has, with somes!ii)ht modifications, 

 constantly pursued M. A chard's plan. The lol- 

 lowing is a brief sketch of 



The Method of Defecation adopted by M. Crespel. 



"The juice as it comes from the press passes, 

 by means of a leaden strainer, into two tubs lined 

 with lead. One of these is tilled in the morning, 

 the other at night. Each tub contains 1800 litres 

 (410 gallons). As soon as one tub is filled, the 

 first process is begun, namely, the acidification of 

 the juice; for this purpose 8i oz., or thereabouts, 

 of sulphuric acid, diluted with three parts of water 

 are used for every hectolitre (22 gallons) of liquid. 

 As the acid is applied, the juice is kept stirring, 

 after which it is leil till the following day, when it 

 is poured into the defecating boilers. Each of 

 these ought to hold 410gallons, that is, they should 

 be of the sa.*'e dimensions as the tubs where the 

 juice has been acidified. The boilers having been 

 well cleaned, the bottoms are lined with a coating 

 of pulverized chalk, in the proportion of 18 oz. to 

 22 gallons. The juice is then poured in, s^tirring it 

 well all the time, in order to prevent the acid from 

 afl'ecting the copper.* Into each boiler are then 

 put 5 or 6 ounces of lime, previously slaked by the 

 uir, mixed with water enough to^ form a milk, 

 wliichis mixed with the juice. 



"When the fire is up, and tlie temperature in 

 the boiler is raised to 25° or 30" of Reaumur, (88° 

 to 100° of Fahrenheit,) bullocks' blood is added 

 in the proportion of 2j pints to every 20 gallons of 

 juice. t 



"The materials beinfj well mixed together, the 

 fire is forced briskly. In two hours the whole will 

 be in a state of ebullition, as shown by the ther- 

 mometer, which ri.ses to 80° of Reaumur, 212° of 

 Fahrenheit. The fire is shortly afterwards with- 

 drawn, the scum, &c. is taken ofl'the surfiice and 

 put on a linen strainer, under which is a shallow 

 tub or keeler, lined with lead, to receive the drop- 

 pinjrs, which are put back into one of the boilers. 

 When they will yield no more juice through the 

 etrainer, the residuum is taken to the bass with the 

 pulp, and pressed to get out what is left of the 

 juice. This operation is performed by a press for 

 the purpose, placed near the boilers. 



"Shortly alter skimming, the substances which 

 did not float will be precipitated. The juice is 

 then of a yellow color, and perfectly transparent. 

 The cock is opened, and the juice contained in one 

 defecating boiler is divided equally amongst six 



'This has been by some considered an erroneous 

 idea, consequently such a precaution is useless. 



fM. Crespel substitutes blood lor the milk used by 

 M. Ac hard. 



concentrating boilers." (Chaudieres de concen- 

 tration.) 



Such is the plan which M. Crespel has pursued 

 for many years, and which, with the exception of 

 usin 11^ large instead of small vessels lor acidiiying 

 the juice, and blood instead of milk, is precisely 

 that of M. Achard. 



M. Crespel has since substituted simple lime 

 f()r the carbonate of" lime, to neutralize the acid, 

 and has also discovered that the prolonged contact 

 of the sulphuric acid with the jjiice is useless. 

 The following is the method of defecation as at 

 present pursued by him. 



When one of the defecating boilers (always 

 ISOO litres, or 410 gallons each.) is sufficiently full, 

 belbre the fire is lighted apply 3600 grammes (127 

 oz., say 81bs. avoirdupois) of diluted acid. After 

 being well stirred, put in 8 or 91hs. of lime, weighed 

 quick, then slaked, and mixed with water to the 

 consistence of milk. The fire is then lighted. 

 When the juice is at 170° or 190°, the animal 

 charcoal of a former clarification is mixed with it, 

 after which bullocks' blood is added, which is well 

 siirred, in order that it may be distributed equally 

 throughout the mass. The fire is then quenched, 

 and after a while the clear licjuor is drawn off", by 

 'he cock placed a litde above the bottom of the 

 boiler. 



M. Dubrunfiiut then proceeds to give the re- 

 sults of various experiments made by M. Carter 

 and himself, which appear to have failed entirely 

 from an oversight in applying the sul|)huric acid to 

 the juice when hot., instead of" c»/fZ, as recommend- 

 ed both by M. Achard and M. Crespel. Still he 

 had a strong- desire to acquire farther information 

 on this subject; and in the course of his investiga- 

 tions, the following reflections suggested them- 

 selves to his mind: 



He had observed that both M.JVl. Achard and 

 Crespel had recommended the defecation of the 

 juice immediately on coming f'tum the press. He 

 had also noticed that the juice of the beetroot, 

 however white in itself", became of a dark and yel- 

 low tint when exposed to the air, and imagined 

 this to proceed fi'om the same cause which changes 

 the color of i"ruits, as pears and apples, when cut 

 with a knife. He conceived an idea that the sul- 

 phuric acid applied to the juice had for its object 

 the prevention of this alteration, and to convince 

 himself ol' it, exposed the sections of fruit to the 

 action of the air, leaving some as they came from 

 the knife, and touching others with a slight coat 

 of sulphuric acid a good deal diluted. The for- 

 mer very soon turned yellow and blackish, whilst 

 the latter remained unchanged. The experiment 

 then was conclusive as to the object to be attained 

 by the application of the acid. 



Yet Achard had only advised the addition of 

 sulphuric acid to the juice, and as the change man- 

 ifests itself as soon as the pulp is formed, and in 

 the pulp itself, he thought it would be an improve- 

 ment to add the sulphuric acid to the pulp instead 

 of the juice; with this view, the following experi- 

 ment was made by M. Cafler and himself. 



Experiment . — 935 lbs. of beet roots were weigh- 

 ed, as being the amount ol a single pressure. 

 They were then rasped, and as the pulp fell into 

 the troufrh beneath, it was taken and put into open 

 casks, where it was mixed with sulphuric acid di- 

 luted with five times its weight of" water. The 



