SUGAR. 



479 



■with a spade, axid in a short space a shoot comes 

 up whieli is soon fit for removal. 



Europeans are much fonder of the Bread- 

 Fruit than negroes. They consider it as a sort 



of dainty, and use it either as bread or in pud- 

 dings. When roasted in the oven, the taste of 

 it resembles that of a potato, but it is not so 

 mealy as a t:on.l one. [Penny Magazine. 



[Bread-Fruit, Flower and Leaf.J 



SUGAR, AND ITS EFFECTS ON MAN AND ANIMALS. 



BY JAMES H. FENNELL, 

 Author of " A Natural History of Quadrupeds," Sic. 



Sugar is one of the most ancient productions 

 of India. Its European names, mic-ar, sucre, 

 &c. are evidently derived from the Sanscrit suk- 

 khar, and susa.rcain\y (rom.tukkhar-kund. The 

 cane is most extensively cultivated in the West 

 Indies ; and it was not until lately that it v^-as 

 introduced into the East Indies, but it has 

 spread rapidly there, and the climate all over 

 India seems perfectly adapted to it. The canes 

 ol' the W^'est Indies may be said to be almost 

 wild and primitive, but those of the Ea.'it Indies 

 are really cultivated, and the crreat BU])eriority 

 of their Su^ar afford.* an excellent proof of the 

 importance of culture. When the cane had 

 been introduced into Hourbon and Otahcite, 

 the same superiority of the <iuality and quantity 

 of the crops in comparison with those of the 

 West Indies, on similar extents of ground, or 

 from a like number of canes, was remarkable. 

 Attention bcinir called to this fact, the West 

 India proprietors actually obtained the cultiva- 

 ted canes of Bourbon and Otaheite, and planted 

 them to very great advantasre about the close of 

 the last centurj-. In Affghanistan the cane thrives 

 well, and yields an excellent Sugar, but the 

 people are ignorant of the mode of crvstalizing 



(i(;o3') 



it, and therefore they are indebted to llindostar 

 for their large supplies of sugar-candy. The Aff- 

 ghans cut the fresh cane into small pieces, which 

 they eat as sweetmeats. The cultivation of the 

 cane has lately been introduced into the island 

 of Singapore, and promises to become one of 

 its most important branches of commerce. — 

 Some French capitalists have purcha.scd land at 

 Algiers, on which thej' are growing it. In 

 Sicily, Spain, and Italy, it was fomierly culti- 

 vated, but, we believe, its culture is now aban- 

 doned in tho.se countries. 



Saccharine juice abounds in all the maples ; 

 and, in North America, where there are large 

 forests of these trees, a very good sort of Sugar 

 is extensively made from two species, though 

 the black sucar maple is by far the least pro- 

 ductive of the two. Pursh tells us that the 

 Americans " obtain the juice by tapping the 

 trees in spring : warm days and frosty nights 

 are most favorable to the plentiful discharge of 

 the sap. A hole is made in the tree in an as- 

 cending direction, with an auger, and a spout 

 made of elder is introduced about half an inch, 

 which projects from three to twelve inches. 

 The sap wUl sometimes flow six weeks, accord- 



