The Diffusion Process. 55 
The question is a somewhat complex one, and cannot 
be determined off-hand. One frequently hears the pro- 
cess condemned on the score of the greater consumption 
of coal, on account of the non-utilization of the megass, 
— a very important consideration, and one that must 
by no means be lost sight of — , or on account of 
the further waste of coal and damage to the juice by 
dilution, an objection not without foundation, but gene- 
rally based on an entire misconception of the real na- 
ture of the process of diffusion, and the degree to which 
the juice is diluted. Then we hear of the difficulty of 
cutting up the cane owing to the hard nature of the 
rind, and the impossibility of procuring pure fresh water 
in sufficient quantity for the treatment of the sliced cane. 
Let us consider these objections in the following or- 
der : — 
The slicing of the cane. 
The dilution of the juice. 
The consumption of coal. 
The supply of fresh water. 
The slicing of the cane, — While there have been many 
instances of failure in this part of the process, it cannot 
be maintained that the difficulty is insuperable. It will 
be conceded that one successful attempt at any mechani- 
cal problem overrides a score of failures. Now at the 
Aska Works in India, crop after crop has been taken 
off with machines designed by M. Julius Robert, and 
constructed by FRANZ Rebicek of Vienna. In this 
machine six knives are placed radially on a cast-iron disc, 
and the canes are advanced at such a speed, and such an 
angle towards the disc, that the revolving knives cut them 
into slices three or four inches long and about tV thick' 
