ON THE JUICE OF THE SUGAR-CANE. 469 
point to examine if tlie ashes of these canes presented, in respect to 
their constituent substances, any modifications decidedly appreciable. 
My researches have been without any result ; I have always found over 
again those saline bases which are met with in the normal state, and I 
have, with regard to the fixed alkalies, determined neither an increape nor 
a diminution capable of being referred to any other causes than the 
varieties peculiar to these bodies, and the errors which are frequently 
found in similar analyses. 
In order to terminate this part ef the subject, I here give the average 
quantity of fixed salts contained in the four species of cane principally 
cultivated in Mauritius. Such average quantity has been determined 
by the incineration of fine portions of these canes, previously subjected 
for several days in a stove to a temperature of 100° centigrade : — 
BelJouguet. Guingham. Bamboo. Penaug. 
Water, sugar, and organic matter 98*8 95*9 9932 99*1 
Salt 1-2 1-1 68 9 
100-0 100-0 100-00 100-0 
Third Part. — I. The Modifications Experienced by the 
Cane-Juice. 
The modifications in the juice during its extraction from the cane, 
as practised in Mauritius, are inherent in the very nature of this liquid, 
or originate under the influence of external agents. The former, though 
sometimes useful, are more frequently contrary to the purpose of the 
manufacturer ; the latter are always produced with the object of obviat- 
ing determinate inconveniences, and of producing regularity in the pro- 
cess of manufacture. 
The narrow limits within which I am obliged to confine myself do 
not allow me to specify all these modifications which, were they men- 
tioned in detail, would considerably increase the space which I have 
apportioned to this memoir. I will, therefore, confine my remarks to 
the specification of that influence on the sugar of the juice produced, by 
the different substances which have been more especially the object of 
my observations in the previous pages. 
I will not repeat what I have already adduced in the chapter on 
microscopical examination regarding the granular matter, and the power 
it has of producing in a very short time the fermentation of the juice 
extracted from the healthiest canes. But this is the proper place to 
exhibit those remarkable differences which the various azotised sub- 
stances naturally contained in this liquid impress on the fermentation 
which is developed in the juice. It is known that sugar subjected to 
fermentation furnishes products which are not always identical, and that 
the decompositions to which it then gives rise, depend on the fermenting 
element employed, or what is the same thing, on the substance pro- 
