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Mr. Jennings is laboring under the mistake that I have been using his process and 

 spending live .years on what ho showed me how to do at first. This isa complete mis- 

 apprehension of the case. I have never denied to Mr. Jennings the honor of invent- 

 ing the method of clarifying cane juices in the diffusion battery; in fact, long before 

 his letter in your paper appeared I wrote a note to the New Orleans City Item, specifi- 

 cally claiming for him the honor of the invention which had been attributed to 

 another source. 



It is important to sugar-makers, either present or prospective, to know the follow- 

 ing points, viz: 



(1) The process of using carbonate of lime in the diffusion battery is a patented 

 process which can only be used under royalty or by permission of the inventor, Pro- 

 fessor Swensou. 



(2) The process of clarifying the cane juices in the diffusion battery is a patented 

 process and can only be employed under royalty or by permission of the inventor, 

 Mr. O. B. Jennings, of Grover, Colo. 



(3) The use of dry lime or lime in any form in the diffusion battery to prevent 

 inversion is a process devised by the Department of Agriculture, and offered free to 

 all sugar- growers in this country. Under proper chemical control it is more efficient 

 than the use of carbonate of lime. 



I will say further that I have never tried in any way to use Mr. Jeuniugs's process, 

 since in an ordinary diffusion battery it would be wholly impossible to do so. The 

 high temperature which he requires for the proper clarification of the juices would 

 render the circulation of the liquid in the battery almost impossible. 

 .Respectfully, 



II. W. WILEY, 



Chemist. 



The process of using litne iu the diffusion battery for clarifying pur- 

 poses it is claimed bas been successfully practiced in Java and Aus- 

 tralia. 



Prof. W. 0. Stubbs has also used it with success at the sugar exper- 

 iment station at Kenner, La. 



Col. E. H. Cunningham of Sarlartia, Tex., has also used the process 

 with success, as is indicated by the following letter from him, published 

 in the Louisiana Planter of December 1, 1888: 



My diffusion battery is now working nicely, and I am very much gratified at the 

 results obtained. Diffusion is a success beyond a doubt. I am now working sugars 

 by running the juice direct from the diffusion cell^to the double effects without any 

 clarification, except using a little lime in the diffusion cells. 



I shall be glad to have a visit from you or any of your friends who feel an interest 

 in diffusion. 



The process of ordinary clarification, iu my opinion, is more favorable 

 to the production of a pure sugar than any form of clarification in the 

 cells of the battery. The process as practiced at Kenner and Sugar 

 Lands, however, differs from that described by Mr. Jennings in working 

 at a lower temperature. 



COMPARISON OF TOTAL SOLIDS DETERMINED BY SACCHAROMETER 



AND DIRECT DRYING. 



During the season of 1887 I instructed the chemists at the Fort Scott 

 station to make a series of comparisons between the total solids ns 

 determined by our standard saccharometer and by direct weighing. 



