THE SUGAR BEET. 



PAETL 



CHAPTEE I. 



HISTORY OF THE FLUCTUATIONS IN THE BEET-SUGAR 

 INDUSTRY IN EUROPE. 



The Sugar Beet of to-day in no way resembles the 

 so-called beet taken to Bohemia by the Barbarians 

 after the fall of the Roman Empire, as it contained but 

 few saccharine elements, and these were not in suffi- 

 cient quantities to attract attention at that period, and 

 it was not until 1705 that Olivier de Serres considered 

 that alcohol might be obtained from the fermentation 

 of the beet, as he was convinced that sugar therein 

 existed. The first suggestions relating to the possi- 

 bilities of the extraction of the same were brought to 

 notice in 1747 by Margafi", a Prussian chemist. He, 

 taking advantage of principles previously discovered, 

 was able to extract 5 per cent, of sugar possessing 

 all the saccharine properties that were known to exist^' 

 in sugar from the cane. Some years now elapsed 

 before any great attention was given to this import- 

 ant subject. 



