Report of Society's Meetings. 177 
heavily and the grinding has been very long. The burning of green 
megass has now been considered both from a theoretical and financial 
point of view. The wonderful saving claimed by some, when burning 
green megass, has been pretty well disproved. Some have advanced 
the theory that the water of the megass is decomposed and burned as 
oxy-hydrogen gas, thereby saving a large amount of fuel. The absur- 
dity of this theory becomes apparent, as soon as the very high temper- 
ature necessary to decompose water into its elements, is taken into 
consideration. Others assert that in some of the West India Islands 
sugar is manufactured without any fuel, except the megass burnt in its 
green state. This cannot be possible, if the cane juice contains an 
average of 1.6 lbs. of sugar per gallon, as in this colony. If the cane is 
badly crushed, it is true that there is less power required, but then the 
value of the megass as fuel, would be so much reduced as to require a 
corresponding increase of fuel when it is burnt green. 
Mr. Russell rightly remarked in his paper, that he has " set the ball 
a-rolling." I have attempted to give it a feeble kick ; may the impulse 
thus imparted to it, be of some assistance in reducing the cost of 
Manufacture of our Great Staple " Sugar." 
Discussion on Mr. Coster s Paper. — Mr. Neville Lubbock mentioned 
that when he passed Trinidad, the manager of the Colonial Company's 
usine in that island showed him a statement of the work done, and it 
appeared that the consumption of coals, used along with wet megass as 
it came from the mill and crushed at 64, a lower pressure than was 
general here, was only 12 cwt. to the ton of sugar produced ; and there 
was no doubt that in Martinique where the usines took the megass 
direft from the mill, the consumption of fuel was considerably less than 
it was in this colony. He thought that before long, the consumption of 
wet megass would be very general in this colony ; the risk of fire would 
be very much lessened, and also the expenses of the labourers. The 
Colonial Company's experience certainly was, that in Trinidad they 
burned less coals to the ton of sugar than they were doing, with the use 
of dried megass in this colony. In Mr. Russell's paper he noticed that 
fibre and ash had been joined together ; and he should very much like 
to ask what proportion of that was woody fibre. Mr. Russell had 
spoken of him (Mr. Lubbock) having in a paper in the Sugar Canr, 
misplaced the decimal points, which materially altered the finding. Mr. 
Russell said he was so staggered with the finding arrived at that he 
proceeded to verify calculations : but while verifying the calculations 
Z 
