September 20, 1889.] 



SCIENCE. 



203 



himself to be a man of strong conservative habits, and very slow to 

 recognize the great practical improvements which have taken place. 

 But the day must come, and that quickly, when the exigencies of 

 competition will lead him to adopt artificial advantages which have 

 proved of service to the continental producer of sugar from beet- 

 root. Then, perchance, the prediction of the Brazilian commission, 

 quoted in the former article, will be verified. 



The methods employed for the extraction of the raw sugat from 

 the beet are practically the same as for raw cane sugar ; but the 

 impulses towards change and improvement, and the necessity for 

 the rapid evolution of more economic manipulation of details, have 

 led to the foregoing inventions. 



One new process, however, has been invented which so strikes 

 at the root of the old process that it merits a description by itself. 

 Instead of crushing the beet-root to a pulp, and then extracting the 

 sugar juice together with albuminoid and gummy matters, it aims 

 at removing the sugar without these foreign substances, and so 

 avoids the subsequent labor for their removal. The beet is cut 

 into slices, and thes^e are washed with water. It is claimed that 

 the sugar diffuses out through the walls of the unbroken cells, 

 whereas the albuminoids and the gummy matters of far greater 

 molecular complexity cannot so escape. When the washing is 

 carried out systematically, the process works exceedingly well. 

 Again, the principle of this improvement, like those which underlie 

 the others, is quite old. The walls of the unbroken cells are per- 

 forated with fine pores. The particles of sugar can pass through, 

 but the bulky albuminoid aggregates cannot pass. It is like a 

 sieve at work on a minute scale : sugar for the fine gravel, albu- 

 minoids for the stones, gummy matters for the lumps of clay, and 

 the minute pores for the hxjles of the sieve. The originality con- 

 sists in the application. The same plan has been used over and 

 over again to detect arsenic in a viscous mixture of substances ; 

 the mixture is merely boiled with dilute hydrochloric acid, and then 

 floated on a parchment membrane on a vessel of water, the arsenic 

 passes through into the water, and the filth with which it was 

 mixed remains behind. This diffusion-process, which thus owes 

 its birth to the experiments of the Englishman Graham, is much 

 used on the continent, and its applicability to the production of 

 sugar from the sorgho grass is a source of confidence to those who 

 are trying to develop this new American mdustry. The sugar 

 trade at this moment watches with interest the practical experiments 

 which are now being made, with, as far as can be judged at present, 

 satisfactory results on its application to the extraction from the 

 sugar-cane. Even in Japan an effort has been made to utilize it, 

 and the government have aided the industry by a bounty, and have, 

 it is said, a considerable share in a large manufactory which is now 

 being floated ; here, too, the Japanese evince their keenness in 

 adopting Western inventions, and even in extending European 

 ideas. 



But the manufacture of sugar does not end with the production 

 of raw sugar ; in England it commenced with the raw sugar. 

 The refining of sugar chiefly consists in the removal of the color- 

 ing matter which adheres to the small crystals of the raw sugar, 

 and the casting of the purified crystals into moulds. The same 

 processes are applied both to the raw material from the cane sugar, 

 which is pleasant to the taste, and to that from the beet, which 

 smells unpleasantly and is uneatable. The method is the same as 

 a chemist would adopt, who, in the course of an investigation, pre- 

 pared a substance which he wanted in a state of perfect purity. 

 The sugar is dissolved, and the solution filtered to remove me- 

 chanical impurities. The solution by its tint shows the presence 

 of coloring matter, which is removed by filtering through animal 

 charcoal, when it will filter from the charcoal in a colorless condi- 

 tion. It is a curious experiment to shake a wine-glass of port wine 

 with some finely divided animal charcoal ; after filtering, the wine 

 is obtained as colorless as water, but it completely preserves all its 

 characteristic properties of taste unaltered. The colorless solution 

 of sugar is then concentrated in a vacuum pan until of the right 

 strength for rapid crystallization. To ascertain this point, the 

 workman places a drop between his finger and thumb, and tests 

 into what length of thread it can be drawn. If the right strength 

 has been reached, some cold unboiled solution is added. Crystals 

 at once appear. If the sugar is finally to be cast in loaves, the 



conditions are so adjusted as only to produce small crystals. The 

 mixture of crystals and sirup is then heated to within thirty or 

 forty degrees of the boiling point of water, and poured into the 

 iron moulds of the familiar shape. At the apex of the mould there 

 is an aperture which when unplugged allows the sirup to draia 

 away. Finally, the remaining traces of sirup are removed by al- 

 lowing a quantity of fine colorless sirup to percolate through the 

 loaf. After the loaf has been subsequently dried and turned in a 

 lathe, it is ready for the market. 



Thus, then, the production of sugar is completed. The plants- 

 utilize the waste products of animal existence, and work their 

 wonderful chemical transformations. Man gathers wealth from 

 these storehouses of nature, and exercises his ingenuity in obtain- 

 ing as much as possible. So the history of a lump of sugar con- 

 tains the story of how plants work, and how mankind inherits their 

 store by aid of labor both of mind and body. 



HEALTH MATTERS. 



Weight of the Body in Typhoid-Fever. 



Dr. L. H. CohiN has published a thesis in which he sets forth 

 the daily variations in the weight of patients in typhoid-fever. This 

 publication is the result of studies pursued in Cochin Hospital, 

 where, by a skilful contrivance, successive series of patients were 

 carefully weighed every day, and the weight recorded on their 

 charts, from the beginning to the end of the fever. 



The observations of Dr. Cohin, as given in the Boston Medical' 

 and Surgical Journal, show that the loss of weight varies consider- 

 ably for each individual. With some it was two hundred grams 

 a day : this was the minimum. With others it was five hundred 

 grams : this was the maximum. The mean of nine observations 

 gives four hundred grams of loss per day ; but on taking mild 

 cases, free from complication, the mean fell to three hundred and 

 twenty grams, which represents the daily loss in typhoid-fever of 

 average intensity. The mean of the daily gain, when convales- 

 cence was established, was two hundred and eighty grams. The 

 maximum of loss of weight corresponded to the end of the second 

 week, or the beginning of the third. In reviewing the researches 

 on the causes of the loss of weight in typhoid patients, the writer 

 establishes the fact that the febricitant lives at the expense of his 

 own substance. 



The conclusions of these studies are as follows: (i) Typhoid- 

 fever presents two distinct periods, one of loss and one of gain ; 

 certain accidental causes may modify them, but cannot affect their 

 general character. (2) The daily loss is due to febrile combustion 

 chiefly, and but little to abstinence, (g) The daily loss varies 

 with individuals. (4) The losses in nitrogen and in weight are 

 almost parallel with the march of the temperature, without always 

 following it exactly. (5) The study of the weight-chart may aid in 

 prognosis, a continual rise in the weight being a sign of convales- 

 cence. (6) The complications of the disease augment the loss of 

 weight. (7) The study of the loss of weight enables the physi- 

 cian to determine with precision the action of nutritive substances 

 in fevers. (8) The loss of weight in a typhoid patient takes place 

 each day in a uniform manner. 



Health in the. French Army. — According to the official 

 report of the French minister of war, the mortality among th& 

 French troops has fallen from twelve to eight per thousand dur- 

 ing the last year. From 1875 to 1887 there have occurred 141,648 

 cases of typhoid-fever, and 21,116 deaths. The percentage of this 

 disease has materially decreased of late, owing to the attention that 

 is being paid to pure water-supply in the barracks. The value of 

 vaccination is proved by the fact that the number of small-pox 

 cases has fallen from 1,042 to 242, and these were mostly among 

 recruits. 



New Method of precipitating Sewage. — The problem of 

 the disposal of the sewage of large towns has long defied the 

 efforts of sanitary engmeers to cope with it in a satisfactory 

 manner. A new method of sterilizing and precipitating sewage 

 has just been brought out, which, it is claimed, accomplishes all 

 that can be required of it at as little cost as any such system can 

 be worked. The method has been put in practice experimentally at 



