40 
the best yellowish St. Thomas, known as Moscovade.” He 
extracted sugar by two processes : the first consisted in drying the 
roots and powdering them, and then extracting with alcohol ; by 
which method he obtained from } 1b. of dried white beet 4 drach 
described above produced ; after obtaining the sugar from the 
skirret roots he allowed the liquor left to ferment, getting an 
alcohol; and by allowing the starch to settle he obtained a 
powder, such as was then used for powdering the hair. 
Marggraf recognised that the white beet gave more sugar than 
tke skirret, but the skirret more than the red beet. From, the 
parsnip and the wild earrot he failed to obtain sugar. When, in 
1799, Achard, at the request of the Prussian Government, repeated 
Marggraf's work, it was with the white beet that he experimented, 
pa thereby the practical foundation of the modern industry. 
wo analyses of skirret roots have been made. Parmoniage 
(nde D’O rbigny, Dictionnaire @Histoire naturelle, * Sium” ) 
obtained 8 per cent. of sugar ; Saee ( Bulletin de la S ociété d' Aceli- 
matation, ii., 1855, p. 561) obtained 6*6 per cent. Sacc’s analysis 
gave the eine realia 1— 
In 100 parts. 
62-41 
Pu and TE Lad ui zt i 1:91 
Starch 5 ios hen EF A 18:09 
Cane-sugar rs = a za 6°60 
Proteids ... a a ie a 2:09 
Soluble salts = ET had E Laz 
Pectie acid yi si Pes n. T 
Gum me = a 2 0:53 
Sacc advocated the ee Mn of the P He obtained roots 
rue $ lb. to 33 lbs., the average being a little below 1$ lbs. 
As calculated (Dupuis, Revue Horticole, ser. iv., v., p. 305), this 
yield should give 76 tons to the acre; but, as Sace’ 8 plants were 
grown in very favourable cond tions, such an amount is probably 
considerably above what may be e 
The skirret is steadily going out of cultivation. In Great Britain, 
under the name of “ visis ioc it persisted in the extreme north ot | 
Seotland, after ceasing to be grown in England. In Scan dinavia 
Schuebeler (Die Phaneinivelt Norwegens, Christiania, 1873-5, P- 
280) says that he had only seen it near Christiania, and that 
sparingly. In France, as Paillieux and Bois, authors of Potage! a 
d'un curieux tell us, in the north and about Paris skirret is only 
known as a name, and M. H. L. de Vilmorin writes that he is not — | 
aware that it is grown for market anywhere in France, but that it 
may be found in old-fashioned gardens, chiefly in the west and — 
south of France from Tours to Nimes and Avignon. In Gerd 
and Austria it seems to be but little eultivated, the seed to main- : 
tain it in the few gardens, where it now exists, being, rin to 
Herr Ludwig Móller, importea yearly from Fran + 
Thus is the vegetable which in 1682 was Maid to be “the : 
sweetest, whitest, and most pleasant of roots” Daher Spe 
Horticulture, P. 185) fast disappearing from garden ens, ` 
