A Few Popular Facts About Diffusion. 53 



follow in the old-time rut of the customary clarifi- 

 cation of mill-juice ? I am inclined to think, from 

 all I see and hear, that in Demerara we are scarcely 

 on the borderland, even, of any scientific investiga- 

 tion of these questions ; and I have very grave doubts 

 whether many if any of us know what we are talk- 

 ing about, when we speak of " Diffusion Juice." The 

 latter almost always looks better than mill juice. It is 

 clearer. It is almost absolutely free from mechanical 

 impurities held in suspension, and no blanket is formed 

 on the top of the juice as it stands in the clarifiers. 



But as in the moral and social, so also in the sugar- 

 making world, we all need to be cautioned not to judge 

 altogether by appearances. I fear that in a6lual pra6lice 

 there is but little doubt that the perfe6l theory of diffu- 

 sion does not have complete effe6l. To secure the latter, 

 the chips, if possible, ought to be retained in the diff'u- 

 sors, between two parchment diaphragms, or their 

 equivalent; and Dr. Harcourt, of Oxford, holds this 

 opinion. I am inclined to think " Maceration" would 

 be quite as corre6l a term for the new process as " Diffu- 

 sion" for as a matter of fa6t, it is a combination of these 

 two methods. A very considerable proportion of the 

 Cane Cells are cut into, and bruised during the operation 

 of slicing, and therefore liberate their juices mechani- 

 cally, together with an excess of their impurities, which 

 would not be the case with diff'usion pure and simple. 

 In other words, as a matter of pra6lice, and a6lual fa6l, 

 a very large and unknown percentage of the intrinsic 

 advantages of theoretical Diffusion are most probably 

 *ost to us by the extensive cutting open of the cells by 

 the cane slicing knives. 



