64 t>ATE SUGAR INDUSTRY i& BENGAL. 



It has been suggested that this beneficial effect is due to the 

 alkalinity of the smoke. Accordingly, to test this point, we burnt 

 quantities of the fuel normally used by the native for smoking the 

 pots and aspirated the smoke through measured amounts of 

 standard acid. As a result of several experiments it was found that 

 the smoke contained no measurable amount of alkaline constituents. 



It seems possible that the beneficial effects of the smoke may 

 be due to the presence in it of some antiseptic body such as for- 

 maldehyde. It is proposed to make an examination of the smoke 

 constituents in order to test this point. 



