160 GIBBS. 



The analysis gave the following figures expressed as grams per 100 cubic 

 centimeters : 



Density at l^ 



15° 









1.0100 



Total solids 









3.72 



Acidity as acetic 









0.68 



Alcohol 









6.00 



Ash 









0.41 



Sugars : 











Polarization at 30° 







-0.65 



Invert reading 









-1.02 



Sucrose by Clei 



•get 



per 



100 grams 



0.29 



Invert sugar 









. 1.95 



The gi-eat rapidity with which the alcoholic and other processes of 

 fermentation progress is to a large extent due to the employment by 

 the natives of old^ dirty bamboo joints as receiving vessels, no attempt 

 being made at cleanly methods. 



It seems remarkable that more complete analyses of the sap as it 

 exudes from the inflorescence are not on record. The following are the 

 only ones available. 



The Tropical Agriculturist states: 



"From time immemorial, the natives of Ceylon have known how to produce 

 crystallized sugar from the inspissated juice of the coconut tree spathe."^' 



Calmette ^^ in recording an investigation of coco and rice beer as made in 

 Java, Tonkin, and Saigon writes that the sap of the coconut palm contains from 

 9 to 13 per cent of sugar and that the fruit is a good substitute for malt. 



Doctor Lyon''' has observed that when collected in pots which have previously 

 been used, the fermentation commences before the pots are removed from the 

 trees and that the toddy appears to attain its maximum alcoholic strength within 

 twenty-four hours after removal from the tree. He also noted that the rapidity of 

 fermentation and the yield of alcohol vary in different samples and gives the 

 maximum alcoholic strength as 11.9 per cent proof spirits, equivalent to 5.86 

 per cent alcohol by weight. This is equivalent to an original sucrose content 

 of between 12 and 13 per cent. 



THE UTILIZATION OF THE SAP. 



Alcoholic beverages. — The fresh, sweet sap, called toddy in India and 

 various parts of Malaysia, and tuba (Tagalog) in the Philippines, is 

 used as a beverage to some extent, but the major portion is not drunk 

 until after fermentation. Since this process begins at once, unless some 



"Trop.Agric. (1883), 568. 



^ Ghem. Gentralbl. (1894), 2, 394. Centralhl. f. Agrikulturchemie (Vieder- 

 man) (1895), 24, 357. Vrtljahreschr. d. Chem. d. Nahrungs-u. Genusmittel 

 (1894), 9, 98. 



^ Watt, George, A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Calcutta 

 (1889), 2, 455. 



