1853.] 



MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR— SUGAR EXTRACTED FROM MOLASSES. 



35 



lets. Sineo then they have been adopted, as have been also 

 mattresses filled with the same wool, in the hospital La Cbarite 

 at Berlin, and at the hospital La Maternite, and the soldiers' 

 quarters at Breslau. An experience of five years in these estab- 

 ments has shown that the wood-wool is well fitted for use in 

 coverlets, and for wadded goods, and is very durable. 



At the cud of five years a mattress of wood-wool had cost 

 less than one of straw, which required the addition every year of 

 at least two pounds of fresh straw. Furniture, in the construc- 

 tion of which this matter was used, was preserved from the at- 

 tacks of moths. It cost three times less than hair, and the most 

 skilful upholsterer could not distinguish an article of furniture 

 in which it is used from a similar one stuffed with hair. We 

 are, besides, assured that it may be spun and woven. The finest 

 gives a thread resembling that of hemp, and is as strong., 

 When spun, woven, and finished like cloth, it furnishes a pro- 

 duct which may be employed for carpets, horse-furniture, &c. ; 

 when interwoven with a warp of linen, it may be used as bed 

 coverings. The products of the manufactories of Zuckmantel and 

 La Prairie d'Humboldt gained for their present owner, M. Weis, 

 a bronze medal, at the exhibition of Berlin, and a silver medal at 

 that of Altenburg. 



' In the preparation ot the wood wool there is produced an ethe- 

 real oil with sweet odour. This is at first of a green colour ; ex- 

 posed to the light, it takes an orange-yellow. colour; when carried 

 into a dark place it regains its green colour; by recti!! call on it 

 becomes as colourless as water. It has been shown to differ 

 from the essence of turpentine, which is extracted from the stem 

 of the same tree. Employed in various rheumatic and gouty 

 affections, and applied as a balm upon wounds, it has produce! 

 salutary effects; as also in vermicular affections, and in the case 

 of certain cutaneous tumours. When rectified, it answers as an 

 excellent oil in the preparation of the finest lacs, which form the 

 base of varnishes; and has been burned in lamps like olive oil. 

 It dissolves caoutchouc completely, and in a short time. The 

 perfumers of Paris use quite a large quantity of it. 



It has been found that the liquid residuum which the boiling 

 of the pine leaves leaves, exercises a very salutary action when 

 employed as a bath ; so that a bathing establishment has been 

 annexed to the manufactory. This liquid has a greenish colour, 

 verging on brownish; according to the circumstances a'jcl the 

 mode of preparation, it is either gelatinous and balsamic, or acid: 

 in this latter case' prussic acid is produced. During the nine 

 years since the establishment of the bath', their reputation and 

 the number of their visitors have been constantly increasing. 



When it is necessary to augment the efficacy of the baths, 

 there is added an extract obtained by distillatron of the ethereal 

 oil of which we have spoken, an extract which also contains prussic 

 acid. The liquid residuum is also concentrated to the consis- 

 tency of a liquid extract, and then enclosed in sealed vessels to 

 be used for baths at home. 



The membraneous substance which is obtained by filtration 

 when the fibre is washed is put in the form of bricks, and dried ; 

 it then serves as a combustible, and produces a large quantity of 

 gas for lighting, which comes from the great quantity of resin 

 which it contains. Henceforth, it may be used for heating and 

 lighting the manufactory. — Bib. Univ. de Genevi. 



Manufacture of §ugai==Sugar Extracted iiom 51c lasses. 



The manufacture of beet sugar has for some years been largely 

 carried on in France. In ten years, the production has doubled 



notwithstanding the successive duties which have been laid, duties 

 of an excessive character, since 100 kilogrammes of white loaf 

 sugar pay 50 francs of duties, and sell at 150 francs. In 1842, 

 the production of beet sugar throughout France was about 40 

 millions kilog., and to-day it is 80 millions. This progress has 

 been owing to improvements each year in the manufacture. 



Among these improvements, the most important is that called 

 the bari/tic, introduced by MM. Leplay and Dubrunfaut, and 

 which enables them to obtain 50 p. c. of the chrystallizable sugar 

 contained in the molasses. It is well known, that for a long time 

 this molasses was of little value. Its sugar was supposed to be 

 wholly unchrystallizable, and its only use was for making alcohol 

 by fermentation, for which purpose large distilleries had been con- 

 structed. In an establishment of this kind, directed by M. 

 Leplay, 12000 killogrammes of the beet molasses were consumed 

 per day, in making alcohol of 94 p. c, which was wholly used in 

 the manufacture of fine liquors. 



M. Leplay and M. Dubrunfaut, were the first to recognize that 

 the sugar in the molasses was a sugar perfectly chiystallizable, 

 and having all the characters of ordinary sugar; and that to 

 chrystallize it, it was only necessary to separate the interfenng 

 foreign substances, by operating on the juice of the beet which 

 furnishes the molasses. The solution of the problem was one of 

 great importance, since the amountof molasses annually produced 

 in France, was 40 millions kilog., containing more than half its 

 weight of sugar. 



Their process, as I have studied it for some years at the estab- 

 lishment of La Villette, near Paris, is as follows. It is based on 

 the insoluble compound, which sugar forms with baryta. When 

 a boiling solution of caustic baryta at 30 ° Baume, is poured into 

 the ordinary molasses, the substances contained immediately 

 s nidify into a porous crystalline mas*, insoluble in water, and ad- 

 mitting therefore of thorough washing. 



After being thus purified, the saccharate of baryta is white, 

 and has the appearance of a " bouille epaisse ;'" it is exposed to a 

 current of carbonic acid, which takes up the baryta and sets the 

 sugar at liberty. This operation is carried on in large vats of 

 wood, 80 to 100 hectoliters in size, into which strong pumps 

 worked by steam, inject carbonic aei_l obtained by the calcination 

 of carbonate of lime in lime furnaces. 



While the reaction of the carbonic acid is going on, it is ob- 

 served that the "bouillie" of saccharate, before very thick, gradu- 

 ally liquifies, and when complete, the whole is a solution of sugar 

 containing carbonate of baryta in suspension. 



To separate the carbonate, the mixture is put up into sacs made 

 of cotton fabric, through which the syrup filters clear, while the 

 carbonate is retained. These sacs, after draining thoroughly, are 

 pressed lightly in a screw press, and then subjected to a heavy 

 hydraulic pressure, in orderto extract the syrup from the carbon- 

 ate. This syrup thus obtained, marks 18 to 22 ° Baume, it is 

 white, of agreeable tasle, and holds in solution some traces of the 

 carbonate and bicarbonate of baryta which may be removed by 

 means of a sufficient quantity of plaster, or of sulphate of alumine. 

 Finally, it is clarified by means of dried blood ; it is skimmed 

 and filtered, and boiled clown like a syrup for the refinery, after 

 which it is put into forms for chrystallizing. We thus obtain, at 

 once, sugar equal in quality to the finest sugars of commerce. 



With regard to the residues of this process — the carbonate of 

 baryta, saline substances contained in the molasses, quicklime pro- 

 ceeding from the calcination of the limestone, etc., I have learned 



