156 
SELECTED ARTICLES. 
poration became as red as blood. I advised that the propor- 
tion of lime should be increased; this was gradually done till 
it amounted to three pounds to the hectolitre of juice; the 
syrup and sugar now assumed a light yellow colour, but it was 
requisite to employ the acid to prevent their becoming ropy. 
I am aware that there exists a general dislike to the sugars 
hitherto prepared with acid, and which may be always recog- 
nised by their colour and smell, and will make a few remarks 
on the subject. 
It has almost always happened, that the manufacturers who 
endeavoured to obviate the excess of lime by the addition of 
sulphuric acid, have produced a red product; this has arisen 
from the following causes: first, the acid is oftentimes added at 
random, and though the most careful workmen employ it cau- 
tiously, and resort to the test paper to avoid an excess, think- 
ing that this is the great evil to be guarded against, they are 
equally in error; for it is only when the sugar is too acid that 
it becomes red — this happens also when it is not sufficiently 
alkaline; so that the test paper is not a sure guide for estimat- 
ing the proper quantity of acid to be used, there being in fact 
in most cases too much when the paper is restored to its blue 
colour, and consequently the liquor still alkaline; hence the 
syrup is not red from being too acid, but not sufficiently alka- 
line; in fact, the alkalimeter affords the only sure criterion of 
the proportion of acid to be employed. 
There is another question which I have not been as yet 
able to solve; this is to ascertain if all the alkali in excess in 
the syrup is lime. As beet juice contains potash and ammo- 
nia, and as these alkalies may remain in a free state in the 
liquid after clarification, and even after the addition of a cer- 
tain portion of sulphuric acid, which combines with the lime 
in preference, it may be that the excess of alkalinity is in 
part owing to these alkalies.* Journ. de Con. Usuelles. 
* We have inserted the foregoing memoir, although it does not strictly 
comport with the plan of our Journal, but as the public attention is at this 
moment directed to the subject of Beet sugar, we have thought that these 
practical details would prove interesting to many of our readers. Ed. 
