VARIETIES OF SUGAR. 261 



The juice was extracted from the grated pumpkins in the same manner as 

 from beet-root. 



Mr Hoffman obtained from an indifferent press 82 lb. of juice, con- 

 taining a proportion of sugar of from 3 to 10. This juice is stated to 

 be far preferable to that of the beet-root, because it does not so soon lose 

 its virtues, but remains good for twenty-four hours. It is purified and cleared 

 with animal matter, and the pumpkin juice is boiled down in the 

 same manner as that of beet-root. Sheep prefer the refuse of the pvunpkin 

 to that of the beet-root, which also requires a well-cultivated soil, while 

 the former will thrive in one that is less so. 



Some successful experiments were made a few years ago in Sicily in 

 extracting sugar from the Indian fig (Opuntia vulgaris, or Cactus Opuntia), 

 which is known to contain much saccharine matter, capable of being 

 crystallised. The plant is very plentiful in the southern regions of Eiu'ope, 

 where it grows in many parts wild. The process employed was much more 

 simple than that commonly used in the extraction of beet-root. The honey 

 of the prickly pear is of two kinds : one is a syrup, the other is as thick as 

 honey ; both are saccharine, and said to possess all the qualities of common 

 honey. 



The first settlers of America, in order to obtain sugar, used to boil up the 

 chips of the walnut trees which they had cut down. The Indians on their 

 long journeys prefer sugar to any other food, because it will not corrupt, 

 and they mix it liberally with their powdered Indian corn. The sycamore, 

 the ash-leaved and the Norway maples, abound with a saccharine juice 

 from which sugar might probably be prepared with advantage in certain 

 localities. Sugar is also made from the sap of the birch tree. 



Mr Edmund Spencer, in Ms Travels through Circassia, Krim Tartary, 

 &c, in 1836, describes a similar process to that from the maple, pursued 

 in obtaining Caucasian sugar. " Here," says he, " I was made acquainted 

 with their manner of procuring sugar, which is derived from the walnut 

 tree, that flourishes here in extraordinary perfection. During spring, just 

 as the sap is rising, the trunk is pierced, and a spigot left in it for some 

 time : when this is withdrawn, a clear sweet liquor flows out, which is left to 

 coagulate, and on some occasions they refine it. For diseases of the lungs, 

 and general debility, they consider it a most valuable medicine." 



Clarified honey, bleached in the sun till it becomes quite white, is 

 another substitute for sugar. 



The Arabs in Eastern Africa make honey -sugar ; the material, after 

 being strained and cleaned, is stored for two or three weeks in a cool place 

 till surface granulation takes place. The produce resembles in taste 

 and appearance coarse brown sugar. 



Jaggery is obtained in India from the Cocos nucifera, in Ceylon from 

 the Borassus flabelliformis and the Caryota urens, and in the Moluccas 

 from Arenga saccharifera — the sago palm, which is prolific in sugar, as are 

 the plantain and banana of the West" Indies. 



An abundant and yet neglected source of sugar appears to be the Nipa 



