THE SUGAR PRUNE 



in general, is its inherent tendency to produce a 

 large percentage of sugar. 



A great number of fruits share with the prune 

 the capacity to manufacture sugar, but few other 

 fruits have the power in such supreme degree. 

 The manufacture of sugar by fruits is so familiar 

 a phenomenon that we usually take it for granted 

 and give it no thought. Yet a moment's consid- 

 eration makes it clear that this capacity is one of 

 the most extraordinary functions in the whole list 

 of vital phenomena. 



Holding a ripe prune in my hand I am some- 

 times led to reflect that this is in many ways the 

 most remarkable of chemical laboratories. 



"Within the cellular structure of this fruit, a 

 combination and metamorphosis of chemical 

 products is brought about that the most skilful of 

 human chemists is unable to duplicate. Every 

 chlorophyll bearing plant, to be sure, possesses in 

 greater or less measure the capacity to manufac- 

 ture starch and to transform this substance into a 

 soluble sugar. But the fact that this attribute is 

 characteristic of plants in general, does not make 

 it the less mysterious for the thoughtful observer. 



The chemist is able to analyze starch, and he 

 tells us that it is a compound each molecule of 

 which contains six atoms of carbon, ten atoms of 

 hydrogen, and five of oxygen. 



[255] 



