THE 
PANADIAN RECORD 
OF SCIENCE. 
VOL. ITT. OCTOBER, 1889. 
SuGAR PropucinG PuLANts. ! 
By Wirrip Sxkarrs, B.A. So 
I have to speak of the manufacture of sugar and the 
plants from which it is extracted. Of all the chemical 
industries properly so called, this is probably the oldest, 
and it is now the greatest, both as regards the capital in- 
volved and the general importance to all classes of mankind. 
It is said that the march of civilisation in a country is marked 
by an increase in the consumption of sugar and of soap, and 
this is certainly supported by present statistics. The world 
seems to have got on very well with little or no sugar until 
the 16th century of our era, when the introduction of tea and 
coffee into Europe increased the demand an hundred-fold 
and more, and refineries were established in Holland and 
England. 
The origin of the sugar industry is naturally shrouded in 
the darkness .of a time very far past. We consider the 
word sugar to be derived from the Persian shukkar which, 
with the Arabic name of the same pronunciation, comes 
from the Sanskit sarkara, It is, however, impossible to tell 
from ancient writers whether the substance frequently 
1 Sommerville Lecture delivered April, 1889, 
