EXTRACTION OF SUGAR FROM BEETS. 329 



withstanding all the care that can be taken, the liquor 

 remains cloudy ; and in such cases it is always in vain to 

 look for good results. I have endeavoured to ascertain the 

 cause of these accidents, and I have sought to remedy the 

 evil. I shall report here only what appears to me to be 

 fully established by experiment and observation. 



The juice does not purify well if the beets have begun 

 to germinate too strongly, or if they have begun to decay, 

 or have been frozen. 



When the operations of the rasps and presses are con- 

 ducted too slowly, so that the juice stands five or six hours 

 before being purified, decomposition commences, and good 

 results are never obtained. 



If all the utensils employed are not carefully washed 

 after each operation, so as to free them thoroughly from 

 the juice adhering to them, the labor becomes difficult 

 and unsuccessful. 



I found, upon one occasion, that beets which had been 

 kept in a cellar, where they had neither frozen nor ger- 

 minated, did not, when subjected to experiment in March, 

 yield sugar. They appeared perfectly healthy, though a 

 little softer than those that had been kept in ba'-ns. 



If the first operations are not well conducted, the results 

 are always bad. I can only point out the steps that can be 

 taken to prevent this. 



Beets that have been well kept, may be worked with 

 equally good success from the beginning of October to the 

 end of March. 



When the juice does not become clear, a small quantity 

 of sulphuric acid may be thrown into the evaporating ves- 

 sel, a little before the liquor begins to boil. This will 

 remedy any trouble arising from the use of too large a 

 quantity of lime. It will, however, be useless, if the faults 

 proceed from an altered state of the beet juice. 



By making use of a portion of animal charcoal to clarify 

 the liquor, the evaporation of the juice and the graining of 

 the sugar is sure to be rendered more easy ; but the quan- 

 tity of sugar obtained is very small. 



The lime used in the process of purification combines 

 with the mucilaginous principle of the beets, and neutral- 

 izes the malic acid contained in them ; after this operation, 

 the juice weighs 1** or 1.5° less than before. 



28* 



