OBSERVATIONS  UPON  THE  SORGHUM  SACCHARATUM.  107 
viz :  a  copper  kettle  of  10  gallons  capacity,  a  ladle,  some  tin 
pans,  bowls,  buckets,  &c,  to  contain  the  juice. 
[On  the  28th  of  September  the  author  made  his  first  polari- 
scopic  observation  on  the  first  joints  of  two  canes.  They  yielded 
69.7  per  ct.  of  juice  of  sp.  gr.  1.063.  This,  after  precipitation 
by  subacetate  of  lead  and  filtration,  caused  a  right  handed  de- 
flection indicative  of  5.008  per  ct.  of  crystallizable  sugar  in  the 
juice;  equal  to  3.49  per  ct.  of  sugar  in  the  cane.  A  second 
observation,  on  juice  from  the  next  joints  of  the  same  canes,  in- 
dicated 5.57  per  ct.  of  sugar,  thus  showing  a  richer  juice.] 
1st  Experiment.  (Sept.  30,  temp.  8  A.  M.  40°,  M.  60.°)— The 
fact  of  the  presence  of  crystallizable  sugar  in  the  cane  being 
established,  I  proceeded  to  cut  and  grind  20  feet  of  a  row,  and 
passed  30  canes  which  it  produced  three  times  through  the 
rollers;  about  one-fourth  of  the  seed  had  changed  to  a  dark 
glistening  brown  color,  but  was  still  milky ;  the  remainder  was 
quite  green;  ground  6  to  8  of  the  lower  joints,  which  together 
yielded  3§  gallons  of  juice,  weighing  9°  Beaumd;  neutralized 
the  free  acid  by  adding  milk  of  lime;  clarified  with  eggs,  and 
boiled  it  down  to  240°  F. 
This  first  experiment  looked  discouraging  and  unpromising,  at 
every  step ;  its  product  was  a  very  dark,  thick,  viscid  m,ass,  ap- 
parently a  caput  mortuum;  it  stood  six  days  without  the  sign  of 
a  crystal,  when  it  was  placed  over  a  flue  and  kept  warm  for  four 
days  longer,  when  I  found  a  pretty  good  crop  of  soft  crystals, 
the  whole  very  similar  to  the  "Melada"  obtained  from  Cuba,  but 
of  darker  color. 
2d  Experiment.  (Oct.  13th,  temp.  8  A.  M.  50°,  M.  72°, 
cloudy.) — About  two  weeks  having  elapsed  since  the  first  exper- 
iment, the  weather  in  the  interim  having  been  quite  warm,  tem- 
perature at  8  A.  M.  40  to  52°,  and  at  noon  66  to  75p  F.,  and 
about  one  half  of  the  seed  being  ripe,  I  determined  to  try  it 
again ;  but,  not  being  very  sanguine  of  success,  no  polariscopic 
observation  was  taken. 
Cut  and  ground  50  feet  of  a  row,  which  produced  88  canes, 
and  yielded  8  gallons  of  juice,  weighing  10°  B.  (one  degree 
more  than  the  previous  cutting),  from  the  6th  and  7th  lower 
joints;  juice  slightly  acid.  First  clarification,  4|  gallons,  neutra- 
lized with  three  tablespoonfuls  of  milk  of  lime,  stirred  in  1  It)  of 
