48 
‘feafonable Weather, and from Canes grown kindly ripe. 
The Natural Fiiflory Of ODE Book VIII. 
The * Canes, when ripe, are {queezed between the iron-cafed Rollers of 
Wind-mills, or Cattle-mills. The Juice thus prefled out is boiled firft in 
a very large Copper or Chaldron, mixed with a very {mall Quantity of 
Lime. When this is ufed in too {mall a Proportion at firft, a little Lime- 
water may be afterwards poured into the Chaldron. A ftrong Lixivium of 
Afhes will perform the Office of white Lime, and may be fubftituted in the 
room of it ; and was originally ufed, tho’ the latter is generally thought to 
be more efficacious. It is probable, that the Benefits arifing from either are, in 
a great meafure, owing to their alcaline Qualities. The Sugar-cane, when 
ripe, is of all other Plants the fweeteft; however, there is a latent Acid ftill 
lurking in the Juice; this is apparent by its turning four, if fuffered to re- 
main unboiled any confiderable Time after Expreflion. The Addition 
therefore of Temper, as the Planters call it, being a certain Quantity of white 
Lime, is neceflary to deftroy, in a great meafure, the remaining Acid, and to 
form a neutral Salt. 
That this is one Ufe of Temper, is plain from the different Quantities of 
that which are ufed according to the different Qualities of the Cane-juice : 
That from unripe Canes, as more abounding with Acids, requires a larger 
Quantity, as doth that alfo from Canes too ripe, and tainted: For in the 
latter the acid Salts, that before were neutralized, feem to be again difen- 
gaged, and fet at Liberty, as may be difcovered by its acid Tafte. And 
indeed many Inftances occur in making Sugar, which demand an extraor- 
dinary Proportion of Lime; all thefe betray a Tendency to an Acidity in 
the Juice : But, when the Canes grow kindly ripe, the acid Particles in their | 
Juice are few ; and as the Poignancy of thefe is inconfiderable, the Juice 
will confequently require a lefs Quantity of Lime. There is a further Ufe 
in Lime, befides the foregoing ; for it fuits greatly in cleanfing the Liquor. 
When the Quantity of Lime is duly proportioned, if the Liquor is put into 
a Glafs, an immediate Separation will follow, the Impurities fettling at the 
Bottom, leaving the clear Juice at the Top: But if there is a Deficiency of 
Temper, the Separation will be imperfe&t: If it too much abounds, there 
will be little or no Separation at all. ; 
When the Lime is mixed with the Juice in the Copper or Chaldron, the 
Sordes or Impurities, being no longer intimately united with the boiling Li- 
quor, and being forced about with the Heat of the Fire, are eafily entangled 
in a vifcous Subftance that is naturally in the Cane-juice ; and then rife with: 
it to thes Top of the Copper, forming a thick tough Scum. 
* If, when Canesare ripe, the Weather fhould prove very rainy, their Juice, if at that time exprefled, will re- 
quire a far longer Boiling, before it comes to the Confiftency of Sugar, than if it had been extracted in Weather 
moderately dry. However, this Difference in the Quality of the Juice doth not intirely proceed, as it is generally 
fuppofed, from the greater Quantity of Water at that time in the Plant, but from the greater Number of newly 
fprung up Particles, occafioned by the late Rain. Thefe, if foon afterwards exprefled, having not had fufficient 
time to ripen; the Make of their Particles is, as in all Acids, angular, and fharp-pointed, and therefore diffi, 
milar to thofe ripe ones : They will therefore refift the Heat longer before they are broken, and brought to fuch a 
Confiftency as to incorporate with the others that are already ripe. From fuch a Mixture of ripe and unripe Juices, 
it naturally follows, that the Sugar then made will be neither of equal Confiftency nor Goodnefs with that made in 
1 
This 
