FABRICATION  OF  SUGAR. 
461 
the  paper  was  removed,  the  evidence  of  the  combination,  indi- 
cated by  the  formation  of  the  blue  iodide  of  starch,  was  presented. 
In  preserving  animal  structures  in  ammonia,  the  same  experi- 
ment was  virtually  carried  out ;  the  presence  of  the  ammonia 
suspended  the  oxidation.  There  were  other  agents  which  effected 
the  purpose,  such  as  chloroform  ;  but  the  fact  that  these  agents 
were  indifferently  soluble  in  water  rendered  them  much  less 
effective  as  compared  with  ammonia,  which  combined  readily 
with  the  water  contained  in  the  tissues,  and  so  perfected  the 
preservation  to  the  minutest  point.  In  conclusion,  the  result 
presented  tended  to  throw  a  light  on  the  influence  of  the  am- 
monias as  the  producing  causes  of  some  diseases,  and  as  the 
curative  remedies  in  other  diseases.  The  same  rule  that  per- 
tained to  dead,  pertained  to  living  organic  matter.  Hence  long 
exposure  to  ammoniacal  vapor,  by  arresting  oxidation,  produced 
extreme  anaemia  and  a  low  depraved  condition  of  the  system, 
altogether  with  reduced  respiration,  reduced  appetite,  reduced 
muscular  power,  and  reduced  energy.  On  the  other  hand,  in 
cases  where  a  rapid  oxidation  of  the  body  was  being  determined 
attended  with  increase  of  heat  and  rapid  disintegration  of  tissue, 
the  administration  of  ammonia,  by  arresting  these  changes,  be- 
came in  judicious  hands  the  most  powerful  and  effective  of 
remedies.  It  checked  decomposition  by  its  action  on  oxygen  : 
it  held  the  blood  fluid  by  its  solvent  power  as  an  alkali,  and 
being  volatile  it  inflicted  no  immediate  injuries  on  the  structures 
of  the  body. — Amer.  Journ.  Med.  Sei.,  July,  1862,  from  Med. 
Times  and  Gazette,  May  10,  1862. 
FABRICATION  OF  SUGAR. 
At  the  meeting  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  of  Paris  held  14th 
January,  1861,  M.  Dumas  presented  in  the  name  of  M.  Emile 
Rousseau  a  memoir  on  a  means  of  purifying  vegetable  juices,  ap- 
plied to  the  making  of  sugar.  In  consequence  of  the  immense  im- 
portance of  this  work,  we  publish  an  extensive  analysis  of  it, 
for  which  we  are  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  the  author. 
In  the  juices  of  the  saccharine  vegetables,  that  of  the  beet 
being  taken  for  an  example,  we  find  always  two  kinds  of  organic 
substances  which  oppose  the  extraction  of  the  sugar.  The  first 
belongs  to  the  group  of  albumenoid  and  caseoid  matters.  It 
