poe 
Dec. 
by 
“~-) 
1870 | 
NATURE 
151 


being kept a few weeks, during which time molasses 
continues to drain from it, it is packed in bags or hogs- 
heads, and is ready for shipment. In this state it is 
known as raw, brown, or Muscovado sugar. The process of 
extracting and preparing the juice for export is not exactly 
similar in all countries ; though the principle is the same, 
the practice varies according to the amount of intelligence 
brought to bear upon it. 

FIELD OF SUGAR CANE 
The drawing on the opposite page, which has been 
copied by permission of Mr. T. Baines from one of his 
paintings in the Kew Museum, represents the whole process 
of sugar making at a village in Eastern Tropical Africa, 
Under the tree, in the left-hand corner. is a native cutting 
the cane into lengths, and others collecting them into | 
bundles which are afterwards passed between the rollers 
of the press, asseen in the centre of the picture. Boiling 
and crystallisation are shown in the right and left hand 
corners respectively, 

SUGAR CRYSTALS MAGNIFIED 
The quantity of saccharine matter contained in the 

on the voyage home, as during the time of its storace 
in the docks, and above all, the duty demanded upon 
sugar by the British Government, it does seem rather 
surprising that the article can be retailed at the price it is 
though many are apt to call out that it is not so cheap 
as it ought to be. Sugar in its most common use cannot 
now be considered a luxury ; to rich and poor alike it has 
become a necessity, indeed, amongst the lower classes a 
larger proportion is consumed than amongst the middle 
and upper section of the community, the average annual 
consumption per head of the whole population of the 
United Kingdom being about forty pounds. The East and 
West Indies, Mauritius, and Brazil now supply the bulk 
of the sugar brought into the English Market. It is im- 
ported in hogsheads and bags, the latter vary much in 
size and the sugar is also of various qualities, some of it 
indeed as it arrives has much the appearance of black 
muddy gravel or sand ; most of this undergoes a further 
process of purification and recrystallisation in our own 
sugar refineries, which abound at the East end of London, 
as well as at Greenock, Glasgow, Liverpool, and Man- 
chester. From these refineries the sugar comes out in the 
forms known in trade as lump or loaf sugar, crushed 
lump, pieces, and bastards. 
The quantity of unrefined sugar entered for home con- 
sumption during the year 1869 was 11,188,081 cwts., and 
this exclusive of 1,025,929 cwts. of refined sugar and sugar 
candy, and 741,771 cwts. of molasses. The sugars best 
known in the British grocery trade are Demerara, Ber- 
bice, Barbadoes, Porto Rico, and Mauritius. These are 
| sufficiently refined and crystallised in the colonies pro- 
ducing them as to suit the requirements of the retail trade. 
Those from Antigua, Cuba, Madras, Penang, &c., usually 
find their way into the hands of the refiners, brewers, and 
confectioners. Molasses is, as we have before said, the 
drainings from raw cane sugar. It is used for many 
purposes ; large quantities of rum are distilled from ir, 
often on the plantation where the sugar is produced ; and 
where it is not so used it is exported, the sugar refiners in 
England buy it up largely, and produce a quantity of crys- 
tallised sugar from it. Rum, however, is usually made 
from the skimmings taken from the last boiling of sugar, 
which are mixed with proportionate quantities of molasses 
and water. Though molasses and treacle are often spoken 
of as identical, they appear to be different in their origin, 
for while the former is the drainings of raw sugar, the 
latter is the drainings of refinedsugar. We have hitherto 
spoken only of cane sugar, or, to speak more correctly, of 
that obtained from the sugar-cane, but a large portion, 
indeed the bulk, of the sugar used on the Continent, is 
obtained from the beet-root (Beta vulgaris), the manu- 
facture of which forms a separate article of industry. 
JOHN R. JACKSON 


NOTES 
INTELLIGENCE has been received of an accident which 
occurred to H.M.S. Psyche, carrying the Sicilian section of 
the Eclipse Expedition from Naples to Catania ; but, we are 
happy to announce, without injury to any of the passengers 
or crew, or loss of any of the instruments. The follow- 
ing are all the telegrams to hand at the moment of going 
| to press: — ‘The Psyche, with the Eclipse Expedition on 
cane varies according to the nature of the soil, climate, or | 
other conditions under which the plants are grown. An 
acre of land under sugar cultivation may yield from 
one up to four tons of sugar, and from-each ton of sugar 
after the first process of crystallisation somewhere about 
seventy gallons of molasses will drain ; so that when we 
consider the labour required to keep a sugar plantation in 
full working order, such as tending the plants, expressing 
the juice, evaporation, crystallisation, and the subsequent 
waste both of sugar and molasses, as well in the draining 
board, has struck ona sunken rock near Catania. All hands 
have been saved, and also the scientific instruments. The cap- 
tain, who has behaved most nobly, is still on board, and, with a 
view to save the ship, has telegraphed to Malta for assistance.” 
The following telegram has been received at the Admiralty :— 
| ‘ Pysche has struck, while running by chart, on a sunken rock 
) near Catania. 
All saved, Instruments sent into Catania, Com- 
mander Fellowes has acted nobly, and hopes to save ship, if 
assistance comes at once from Malta, where he has telegraphed. 
Roval Oak sent for.” We may congratulate ourselves that the 
