448 CHAPTER XXII 



There is one more point to discuss in regard to molasses, and that is due 

 to Claassen, who paradoxically has called attention to the influence of the 

 sugar itself. He refers to a supersaturation in the mother liquor whereby 

 sugar is kept from crystallizing and molasses of high purities result.* 

 Although loss here easily occurs, such material is due to bad technique and 

 not to the formation of" a real molasses. 



The position of glucose in Geerligs' theory has led to many misunder- 

 standings. It has been proposed to commercially salt out cane sugar by 

 the addition of glucose, and, though such a scheme might in certain cases 

 result in the separation of cane sugar, there could be no possible prospect 

 for commercial success. On the other hand it has been proposed to ferment 

 the glucose, recover the alcohol, and obtain an enhanced yield from the 

 purified material. One result of this scheme would be to raise the purity of the 

 molasses so that little if any more sugar would be obtained ; that this is so 

 can be seen at a glance from the typical analyses of molasses quoted in the 

 beginning of this chapter. Finally, it may be mentioned that the inversion 

 of part of the cane sugar has been proposed as a corollary of Geerligs' 

 theory with the view of obtaining a greater yield. It is hard to see how 

 such a meaning could be read into his results. 



The Extraction of Sugar from Molasses. Although no one of the processes 

 used in beet sugar factories has succeeded in establishing itself in the cane 

 sugar industry, all are of such technical interest as to deserve cursory mention. 

 They fall into three classes ; those dependent on the formation of insoluble 

 saccharates, those based on the precipitation of sugar by the addition of 

 fluids in which cane sugar is insoluble, and those based on the application 

 of diffusion phenomena. The initial conception of these processes is mainly 

 due to French chemists, though their development is largely due to Germans. 



Saccharate Processes. Cane sugar in combination with various metallic 

 oxides forms insoluble saccharates. Of these bodies, which were first 

 studied by Peligot 5 and Soubeyrau, 6 the following are of technical importance : 

 Monobasic lime saccharate, CaO C 12 H 22 1V H 2 : this is soluble in water, 

 and is obtained by mixing molecular proportions of lime and sugar. 



Sesquibasic lime saccharate, -$CaO 2Ci 2 H 22 O n : this is obtained by 

 pouring an excess of a milk-of-lime into a dilute sugar solution and evapora- 

 ting the mixture to dryness. 



Bibasic lime saccharate, zCaO C^H^O^ : it is formed by mixing two 

 molecular proportions of lime to one of sugar. It is soluble in 33 parts of 

 cold water. 



Tribasic lime saccharate, sCaO C L2 H 22 U : it is obtained by boiling a 

 solution of the bibasic saccharate. 



Bibasic strontium saccharate, zSrO C l2 H 22 O n : it is obtained on mixing 

 two molecular proportions of strontia with one of a hot solution of sugar. 



Monobasic strontium saccharate, SrO C 12 H 22 U : it is formed on cooling 

 the bibasic compound. 



Monobasic barium saccharate, BaO C i2 H 22 O u : this is the only barium 

 saccharate known. It is formed as a crystalline precipitate on mixing a 

 hot saturated solution of baryta with a solution of sugar. It dissolves in 

 41 parts of cold water. 



Lead saccharate, PbO C 12 H 22 U : it is obtained on mixing litharge with 

 a solution of sugar. It is very insoluble in cold water. 



* cf. page 403. 



