Jiso9. 
them. The procefs of boiling the juice is 
befides fo very fimple, that every body may 
foon learn it. But thefe advantages are only 
tobe expected from the Sugarand filver maple, 
as the other fpecies, sdcer Negundo, A. cam- 
pifire, A. platancides, and A. pleudoplatanus, 
contain a lefs quantity of juice, which is 
alfo not fo rich in faccharine matter. How- 
ever, as plantations of thofe maples require a 
{pace of 20 or 25 years before the trees are 
large enough to admit tapping, it will be not 
improper, but of great utility to the commu- 
nity, to examine, meanwhile, thofe indige- 
nous plants, from which likewife a ufeful 
fubftitute for the Weft India fugar may be 
extraGted; and itis with this view ] have 
made the following experiments :— 
Experiments to obtain Sugar from Indta-corn. 
India-corn (Zea Mays) is faid to contain, 
according to Von Fuffi (c), fugar, particularly 
in the nodes of the young ftalks, from which 
Mr. Jacquin, of Vienna (d) has fuccefsfully 
prepared it; and this is fartner confirmed by 
Mr. Marabelli (e), in a differtation on the 
fubje&. It is likewife reported, that the 
extraction of fugar from the ftalks of India- 
corn, growing particularly in a marfhy foil, 
has heen tried in Itaiy upona large fcale, but 
afterwards left off again, as it was found not 
to anfwer the purpofe, the fugar thus ob- 
tained being more expenfive than common 
raw fugar. Tobe conv:nced, by my own ex- 
perience, on this fubject, I made fome expe- 
riments, of which the followingare the refults: 
A quantity of India-corn was cultivated in a 
tolerable, and fomewhat marfhy, foil, for the 
purpofe: when the young plants were about 
fix inches high, the leaves, when chewed, 
had afweetith tafte, but the ftalks, particu- 
larly about the nodes, tafted quite like fugar. 
Thefe young plants being cut off as near the 
ground as poihble, freed from the leaves, and 
fufficiently cleaned ; ten pounds of them were 
cut in pieces, and, being pounded ina ftone 
mortar, the juice was expreffed, which 
weighed three pounds. This juice, whofe 
{fweetith tafte had ftill a difagreeable flavour 
of herbs, was clarified with the white of 
eggs, after which that tafte was {carcely per- 
ceptible; and being thickened to the confift- 
ence of a fyrup, eight ounces of a very agree- 
able tating fyrup were obtained. 
Examination of the Spikes of India-corn. 
As the young fpikes, when they are be- 
ginning to form, poflefs a very agreeable fac- 
charine tafte, they were thought fit for being. 
examined, ‘Len pounds of them were accord- 
ingly f{queezed ina ftone mortar, and the 

(c) GLkonomilche Schriften, #. e. Econo- 
mical Writings. T. 1, p. 397, andt.2. p. 
1gI. 
(4) Crell’s Chemical Annals, year 1734, 
vol. I. 
(e) Franc. Marabelli de Zea Mays Planta 
Analytica Difquifitio, Pavia, 1793. 
Literary and Philofephicad Intelligence. 165 
juice expreffed, after the leaves had been 
{tripped off. Thefe gave four pounds of a 
milky juice, which could not be rendered 
perfectly clear by the white of eggs. By a 
flow evaporation to the confiftence of afly- | 
rup, nine ounces of a brown agreeable taftiag 
fyrup were got but which differed from the 
former by being more mucilaginous. 
Examination of Stalks of India-corn of a 
more advanced Growth. 
Twenty pounds of thefe ftalks were cut im 
pieces, and, with the addition of water, 
{queezed in a ftone mortar, and the juice ex- 
‘prefied, which poffcfled a difagreeable and 
fomewhat acrid cafte. eing in the fame 
manner thickened to the confiftence of a fy- 
rup, twelve ounces of fyrup were obtained, 
which had a difagreeable faline taftey and 
might rather be confidzred as a vegetable exe 
tract, than as fugar. : 
Experiments fo obtaining Dry Sugar from 
India-corn. a 
To learn, whether it was poffible to exe 
hibit a cryftallifible fugar from this plant, the 
fyrups prepared from the young falks and the 
{pikes were each diffolved by itfelf in frefh 
lime-water, and gently boiled, by which a 
great part of their impurities wag carried off. 
The liquors being ftrained througha woollen- 
cloth, each of them was boiled to the thicke 
nefs of afyrup, which was putin a glafs, 
and fet eight-months in a warm place, when 
little eryftallizations of fugar appeared, which 
were with difficulty feparable from the fluid. 
For this purpofe cagh fyrup was evapo= 
rated by a gente fire, tillthey became dry, - 
and this mais was digefted with alkoholized 
Jpiritus vini to ebullition. The fluid fill hot, 
was inftantly poured through a linen clothy 
wheréoa the mucilaginous parts remained; 
but on the cooling of the fpirituous folutiony 
a true fugar, of a yellow colour, cryftallized 
infmall grains. ‘The‘alkohol being drawa 
from the remaining fluid, by dittillation, 
another portion of fugar was got by gentle 
evaporation ; and altogether, two ounces from 
the fyrup of the young ftalks, and one ounce 
and a half from that of the fpikes. 
By: thefe experiments it is fufliciently 
fhewn, that from the young frefh ftalks, as 
well as from the fpikes, of Insia-corn, a true 
fugar can be extracted; but as its feparation 
from the gummous and other particles mixed 
with it is combined with fuch difficulties, 
and the gain fo inconfiderable, that a pound 
of raw fugar from this plant would coft one 
rixdollar, or above 3s. appears that no profit 
for economy will arife from the fabrication of, 
this fugar. ~ 
Experiments for obtaining Sugar from the 
Sibiria Cow - Par |nep. 
The Ruffian cow-parfnep ( Heracleum Sphon- 
dybum Lin.; Heracleum fibiricum } has bee long 
knewn, asa plant containing a great deal of 
faccharine matter, in which refpe&, accor 
ding to Steller (in his Travels to Kamtfchatlea, 
in 
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