CANE SUGAR. 



4. Extract the salts from the after-products by putting the latter under 

 water. 



The decomposition of glucose in the carbonation process gives rise to 

 large quantities of organic salts and hence in carbonation molasses the sugar 

 solubility is high ; this is counterbalanced by the less quantity of molasses 

 formed. 



In later papers on the same subject Geerligs 13 defines molasses as "a 

 hydrated combination between sugars and salts, which can not be broken up 

 by evaporation, and therefore cannot give off sugar in a crystallized form." 

 He regards the proportion of sugar in molasses as controlled chiefly by the 

 reducing sugars present and writes "There is no question of the solubility 

 of sucrose at all, but only of the composition of a combination which contains 

 on an average 55 per cent, sugar, 25 per cent, salts, and 20 per cent, water. 

 If there is a big proportion of reducing sugar in that portion of 55 per cent., 

 then there is little left for the sucrose ; if on the contrary the percentage of 

 glucose is small, the syrupy combination contains much sucrose. 



"It is evident that in my theory there is no place left for negative 

 molasses-formers ; the non-sugars, especially salts, combine with sugars and it 

 depends entirely on the mutual relation of sucrose and reducing sugars 

 whether much or little reducing sugars will enter into the combination." 



Hawaiian Molasses. Peck 14 examined a number of Hawaiian 

 molasses and did not find any relation to obtain between glucose and 

 ash; he observed however that molasses containing much sucrose also con- 

 tained much gum. By gum Peck means the residue obtained after breaking up 

 the lead precipitate by hydrogen sulphide, filtering off the precipitate of lead 

 sulphide and evaporating the filtrate to dryness ; he showed that molasses 

 purified by precipitation of the gums with alcohol on concentration afforded a 

 notable crop of crystals. It does not follow that the bodies precipitated by 

 lead and by alcohol are the same, and indeed Hazewinkel 17 has shown that the 

 lead precipitate consists largely of organic lead salts, so that much lead 

 precipitate implies also much organic acid and hence in Geerligs' theor}' a high 

 solubility of sucrose; further along with the gums precipitated by alcohol 

 much ash also comes down and the crystallization of sugar may have been due 

 (in part at least) to the removal of the ash. 



Composition Of Molasses. The only detailed series of analyses 

 of molasses according to district of origin with which the writer is acquainted 

 are those due to Geerligs in Java and to Peck in Hawaii ; between these there 

 does not appear much difference and in a very rough way molasses may be 

 regarded as a material containing about 20 per cent, water, 30 per cent, sugar 

 and very variable quantities of reducing sugars, ash, organic acids, caramel and 



392 



