144 HISTORY OF SUGAR. 



fore, I often only allude to points upon which you probably 

 are ignorant, purposely to lead you of yourself to seek the 

 information you stand in need of. 



FREDERICK. 



Is not sugar very wholesome, aunt 1 ? 



MRS. F. 



A French chemist* calls it " the most perfect alimentary 

 substance in nature." It has always been esteemed very 

 beneficial, and analysis has proved, that "it affords the 

 greatest quantity of nourishment, in a given quantity of 

 matter, of any substance in nature. "| During the crop time 

 in the West Indies, the negroes grow fat and flourishing, and 

 the sickly among them revive and recover their health. In 

 China and in India, the same beneficial effects are recorded; 

 in the former country, we are told by Sir George Staunton, 

 that many of the slaves and idle persons are frequently miss- 

 ing about the time that the canes are ripe, hiding themselves 

 and living entirely in the plantations. 



FREDERICK. 



And do cattle like it? 



MRS. F. 



Yes; it is not less wholesome to the brute creation. Horses 

 and cattle have subsisted for months at St. Domingo upon 

 it alone; and, during the crop time, when they are fed upon 

 the cane-tops, they become sleek and in better condition than 

 at any other time, though worked harder. In Cochin China, 

 horses, buffaloes, elephants, and all domestic animals are 

 fattened upon the sugar-cane; and the people themselves con- 

 sume a great quantity of sugar. 



HENRIETTA. 



How do they eat it 1 ? 



MRS. F. 



Generally with their rice; and there is little else but these 

 * Dutrone. t Dr. Rush of Philadelphia. 



