SUGAR-CANE 517 



502. Use of chemicals in sirup-making. Certain 

 simple chemical substances are freely used in the manu- 

 facture of sirup. The clear color and the degree of acidity 

 desirable to prevent sugaring of unsealed sirup are some- 

 times attained by passing the juice downward in thin 

 layers through a box or barrel in which it is exposed to the 

 ascending fumes of sulfur, burned in a small furnace con- 

 nected with the bottom of the sulfuring vessel. 



Lime, slacked to a thin paste, is often added to clear 

 the juice by causing the vegetable impurities in the juice 

 to settle. Care is taken not to add enough lime to over- 

 come the acidity of the juice unless means of overcoming 

 the effects of lime are at hand. If the juice should become 

 alkaline, its acidity may be restored by the addition of a 

 little of a preparation called " clariphos," (a pure form 

 of phosphate of lime, which also assists in clarifying the 

 juice). 



HISTORY AND STATISTICS 



503. Early cultivation. Sugar-cane is a native of 

 Asia and probably of India. It was cultivated in India 

 and China long before the Christian era. Yet not until 

 after the discovery of America did sugar become a very 

 important article of consumption among the inhabitants 

 of Europe and America. The ancient Greeks and Romans 

 seem to have lacked the luxury of sugar. 



From Asia, sugar-cane was carried to the islands of 

 Oceania and to Africa. The Portuguese carried it to the 

 Madeira and Canary Islands, southwest of Europe, whence, 

 soon after the discovery of the New World, it was brought 

 to the West Indies. 



