THE 1 BE 1 6 AT 1 N AGE. 



bark of others, as the beech and the pine. This is the 

 reason why the branch of a willow takes root and sprouts 

 readily, and why the inner bark of certain trees are used 

 for food in times of famine. 



Gum. 



Many varieties of gum occur in nature, all of them 

 insoluble in alcohol, but become jelly in hot or cold water, 

 and give a glutinous solution which may be used as an 

 adhesive paste. Gum Arabic, or Senegal, is the best 

 known. It is produced largely from the acacia, which 

 grows in Asia, Africa, California and in the warm regions 

 of America generally. It exudes from the twigs and 

 stems of these trees and forms round, transparent drops, 

 or ''tears.'' Many of our fruit trees also produce it in 

 smaller quantities, such as the apple, plum and cherry. 

 It is present in the malva, or althea, and in the common 

 marshmallow, and exists in flax, rape, and numerous other 

 seeds, which, treated with boiling water, give mucilaginous 

 solutions. 



All the vegetable gums possess the same chemical 

 constituents of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen, in nearly 

 the same proportions as woody fiber and starch. 

 Sugars. 



All sugars may be classified according to four promi- 

 nent varieties: Cane, grape, manna and glucose. 



First Cane sugar is so called from the sweet sub- 

 stance obtained from sugar cane. It is also found in 

 many trees, plants and roots. The juice of the maple tree 

 may be boiled down into sugar, and in the Caucasus the 

 juice of the walnut tree is extracted for the same purpose. 



It is also present in the juice of the beet, turnip and 

 carrot. Sugar beet cultivation is assuming enormous pro- 

 portions in the United States, as well as in Europe. 

 Carrot juice is boiled clown into a tasteless jelly and when 



potash. The cane sugar will be unchanged, while the grape 

 sugar will be blackened and precipitated to the bottom 

 of the vessel. 



Manna Sugar, Etc. 



Manna sugar occurs less abundantly in the juices of 

 certain plants than cane or grape sugar. It exudes from 

 a species of ash tree which grows in Sicily, Italy, Syria 

 and Arabia. It is the product and main portion of an 

 edible lichen, or moss, very common in Asia Minor. This 

 curious lichen is found in small, round, dark colored 

 masses, from the size of a pea to that of a hazel nut or 

 filbert, and is speckled with small white spots. The wind 

 carries it everywhere, and it takes root wherever it hap- 

 pens to fall. It can only be gathered early in the morning 

 as it soon decomposes, or corrupts. The natives gather 

 it from the ground in large quantities and make it into 

 bread. This is said to be what constituted the ''rain of 

 manna'' which fed the Israelites during their wanderings 

 in the desert, and it derives its name from that circum- 

 stance. 



Manna sugar is found in the juice of the larch tree and 

 in the comon garden celery. In the mushroom a colorless 

 variety is found. To add two other varieties of sugar, 

 the black sugar of liquorice root and sugar of milk may 

 be mentioned. 



Glucose. 



The name of this sugar means "sweet," a sweet prin- 

 ciple, or element. It occurs in nature very abundantly, 

 as in ripe grapes, and in honey, and it is manufactured 

 in large quantities from starch by the action of heat and 

 acids. It is only about one-half as sweet as cane sugar. 

 It is sometimes called "dextrose," "grape sugar, 1 ' and 

 "starch sugar." What is known to the trade as "glucose," 

 is the uncrystallizable residue in the manufacture of gin- 



Scene on Line of Western Pacific Railway (Feather River). 



flavored with any fruit flavors passes for genuine fruit 

 jelly. 



It is further present in the unripe grains of corn, at 

 the base of the flowers of many grasses and in clovers 

 when in blossom. 



Pure cane sugar, free from water, consists of the fol- 

 lowing elements, estimated in percentages: 



Carbon, 44.92; oxygen, 48.97; hydrogen, 6.11; almost 

 identical with starch. 



Second Grape sugar. This sugar is so called from 

 a peculiar species of sugar existing in the dried grape or 

 raisin, which has the appearance of small, round or grape- 

 shaped grains. It gives sweetness to the gooseberry, 

 current, apple, pear, plum, apricot, and most other fruits. 

 It is also the sweet substance of the chestnut, of the 

 brewer's wort, and of all fermented liquors, and it is the 

 sugar of honey when the latter thickens and granulates, 

 or "sugars." 



It is less soluble in water than cane sugar, and less 

 sweet, two parts of cane sugar imparting as much sweet- 

 ness as five parts of grape sugar, at which ratio forty 

 pounds of cane sugar would equal 100 pounds of grape 

 sugar. Its chemical constituents are, in percentages: Car- 

 bon, 40.47; oxygen, 52.94; hydrogen, 6.59. Likewise nearly 

 the same as starch. 



As a test to distinguish cane sugar from grape sugar: 

 Heat a solution of both and put in each a little caustic 



cose proper, and it contains some dextrose, maltose, dex- 

 trine, etc. Its profusion and ease of manufacture makes 

 it a cheap adulteration for syrups, in beers, and in all 

 forms of cheap candies. The test for it is the same as 

 that given to distinguish between cane and grape sugar. 



All the elements in the foregoing sugars are similar 

 in their chemical constitution, and what is still more re- 

 markable about them, is the fact that they may be trans- 

 formed one into the other, that is: Woody fiber may be 

 changed into starch by heat, sulphuric acid, or caustic 

 potash; the starch thus produced may be further trans- 

 formed, first, into gum, and then into grape sugar by the 

 prolonged action of dilute sulphuric acid and moderate 

 heat. When cane sugar is digested (heated) with dilute 

 sulphuric acid, tartaric acid (acid of grapes), and other 

 vegetable acids, it is rapidly converted into grape sugar. 

 When sugar occurs in the juice of any plant or fruit, in 

 connection with an acid, it is always grape sugar, because 

 cane sugar can not exist in combination with an acid, 

 but is gradually transformed into grape sugar. This is 

 the reason why fruits ferment so readily, and why, even 

 when preserved with cane sugar, the latter is slowly 

 changed into grape sugar and then fermentation ensues, 

 and the preserved fruit "spoils " 



Gluten, Vegetable Albumen and Diastase. 



These substances are the nitrogenous elements in 

 plants. 



