188 SUGAR 



negroes exhibit a surprising alteration in a few weeks after 

 the mill is set in action. The labouring oxen, horses, and 

 mules, though almost constantly at work during this season, 

 yet being indulged with plenty of the green tops and some 

 of the scummings from the boiling-house, improve more than 

 at any other period of the year. Even the pigs and poultry 

 fatten on the refuse, and enjoy their share of the banquet. 

 The wholesome effects of the juice of the sugar-cane has not 

 escaped the attention of English physicians, and many a weak- 

 breasted patient, instead of coughing and freezing at home over 

 what is ironically termed a comfortable fireside, now spends his 

 winter in the West Indian Islands, chewing the sweet cane and 

 enjoying in January a genial warmth of seventy-two degrees in 

 the shade. 





