220 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [Vol. II., PART II. 



ON THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR FROM 

 THE JUICE OF THE COCOANUT TREE. 



By J. G. Taylob, Esq. 



{Read February 23, 1850.) 



In 1847, during my residence in the Southern Province, 

 near the main road from Point de Galle to Matara, this idea 

 was first made known to me by a very ingenious person, 

 now a resident in Galle ; but I was too incessantly engaged 

 in the duties of my situation to allow of my making any 

 experiments. Nor had I then the requisite experience in the 

 ways of the Island ; besides, unfortunately, the native 

 population had conceived so many prejudices against us and 

 our sugar-making operations, that I think it would have been 

 out of the question. 



In the beginning of the month of September my attention 

 was again aroused by the experiments of a friend, well 

 versed in chemistry, on the products of the cocoanut tree, 

 and, having procured a small quantity of sweet toddy, I had 

 the satisfaction of perceiving that a very fair quality of 

 sugar could be made therefrom. After this, my brother 

 consented to tap two young trees near his residence, on 

 small quantities of juice collected from which I made a 

 great number of experiments, the results of which I now 

 propose to lay before you ; and I am even sanguine enough 

 to hope that some of them (as well as the inferences 

 deducible from other remarks) maybe of some service also to 

 the manufacturer of sugar from the juice of the cane. In fact, 

 we find that very often more light has been thrown on certain 

 investigations from observations on analogous inquiries 

 than from direct experiment on the very subject itself. 



