276 



SUGAR OF STARCH. 



Lead may be 

 used. 



Qaamltyof 

 sugar pro- 

 duced. 



Many sweet 

 substances 

 contain no 

 suj3r. 



Sugar from 

 starch fer- 

 mented. 



givmg out 

 carboiiic acid, 



and yielding 

 alcohol. 



Sirup of starch 

 coQtainsgum. 



Result of its 

 evaporatioa. 



May be em- 

 ployed in 

 pharmacy; 

 but it is deli- 

 quescent. 



F«cula of po- 

 tatoes equally 

 yields sugar. 



la general the latter cannot be used for the parpose, the tin 

 being strongly attacked by the long continued boiling. A 

 leaden vessel has been substituted for it with success. 



The 2 kil. boiled with two hundredths of sulphuric acid 

 yielded, in several comparative experiments, sometimes a little 

 less, sometimes a little more than 2 kil. of sirup at 33® of the 

 areometer [I 295] ; so from a mean of them we may con- 

 clude, without any material errour, that starch yields its own 

 weight of sirup*. 



As many substances have a decidedly sweet taste, for instance 

 sugar of milk, the sweet matter in liquorice, the sweet prin- 

 cipie of Scheele (formed during the action of fat oils on litharge 

 in n-iaking plasters), without however, containing an atom of 

 sugar, Mr. Voge! thought it necessary to ascertain, in the first 

 place, whether the sweet liquor from starch contained real sugar. 



For this purpose he mixed some yeast with 200 gr. [3089 

 grs.] of sirup of starch in warm water, and put ihe whole into 

 a phial, communicating with the pneumatic apparatus, by 

 means of a sigmoid tube. 



Fermentation soon took place, with a very brisk extrication 

 of carbonic acid gas. 



The 200 gr. of sirup yielded by the fermentation upwards of 

 5 lit. [near 6 quarts] of carbonic acid gas j and a notable quan- 

 tity of alcohol was obtained by distillation. 



It is certain, that all sirup of starch contains more or less 

 gum, the quantity of which varies extremely, according to the 

 time of boiling, and the weight of the acid employed. 



The most saccharine sirup evaporated slowly in a stove, and 

 dried in tin moulds, afforded a perfectly transparent elastic 

 substance, in every respect similar to the paste of jujubes. 



The author has no doubt, that apothecaries may avail them- 

 selves of the sirup of starch, for all this kind of gummy saccha- 

 rine medicaments, particularly those that may remain in a soft 

 state ; for the sirup of starch, thus reduced to a solid state, at- 

 tracts moisture from the air. 



Mr. Vogel substituted the fecula of potatoes for starch, and 

 equally obtained a very saccharine gummy sirup. 



• Starch boiled eight hours vith four hundredths of sulphuric acid 

 yielded the same results. 



The 



