The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1869-11-06

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The last thing child inquiries about is
how the sugar-p,lm it snaps up with such
avidty, is made. Yet the manufacture of
these delcacies-we had almost said neces-
saries-of the nursery is thing worth wit
Messing. A marvellous change has come
across the public opinion respecting sugar
and sweets of all kinds. They used to be
denounced by tender mothers as " trash
and messes, and possibly because they
were so denounced, they tasted all the
sweetcr to the little ones. Now their is no
attempt to Taboo that which delighteth the
| Juvenile palate most. In moderation, there
is nothing more wholesome than sugar
and it is, withal, nourishing and warming,
in consequence of the large amount of car
| bon contained in it. Formerly lollypops
were not a speciality there were no large
establishments for their production they
were, in fact, one Of the miscellaneous
items kept in bottles at the pastry cooks
All the higher-c sweets came from France
and Italy, where for ages they have been
famous for these delicacies. But the intro
duction of steam into their fabrication has
given to England the lead in manufactured
sugar articles, which are now made on the
largest scale, and are vastly cheapened
since the days when we used to spend our
halfpence in tofy. The rude style of old
is also gone. The eye must now be salts
fled as well as the palate, even in the cheap
est items. Think of Il halfpenny worth Of
sweets done up in ruby colored gelatine
packet. There was color, it is true, in
some of the more snowy sweets of old, but
it was metallic color containing the most
virulent poison. Doctor Hassalrs analysis
of this painted confectionery, published i'll
the Lancet some years ago, exposed the
villainous manner in which this wildly col
ored sweetmeat was made attractive to the
children by poisonous paint. The brighter
the hue the more deadly the sweet. The
brilliant green, for instance, with which
the toy-cenfectionery was adorned, con-
tanned arsenic of copper, as we shall pres
emily show. One can understand the bad
name sweets acquired when thus made up.
There was vermilion in the reds, of course
and gamboge and chromatc of lead in the
yellows. No doubt many young children
were accidentally killed by plentifully par
tax ng Of these artistically poisoned COM
fits. The analysis of the Lancet has de-
livered us from this cause of infantile trou-
bic. Nothing but harmless vegetable col
ors are now used which if not SO brilliant
as metallic ones, are quite safe. The pro-
duction of sugar plums on manufacturing
scale has caused swifter methods of fabri-
cation. The small items such as rings,
scissors, shoes, and hats, are cast in starch
moulds, and the delicate sweets containing
some essences, such as pineapple essence
and pear essence, are made in the same
manner 1t puzzles older heads than those
Of the children to know how this drop of
delicious liquid gets into the sweet. Like
many other puzzling matters, it is very
easily explained. The tlavoring essence is
mixed with the liquid sugar, and when
poured into the mould the latter crystalizes
Immediately over the former. These es-
scnces. SO nice to the taste, are the most
remarkable examples of the power of chem
istry to transform very repugnant materials
into dcicacies. Fusel oil is the base of the
pear essence, and pine apple essence is OBJ
tanned by diluting ether with alcohol The
chemist in his laboratory with great cum
ming manufactures scores of these essences
which are supposed to he the veritable pro-
duct of delicate fruits. Some of the pretty
forms that are made to take the fancy of
the little ones are simply punched out of
flat films of sugar rolled some are cast as
we have before mentioned some are press
ed into shape when soft, between engraved
rollers. The drops and sweets that are
quite clear are boiled SO long that all the
water has evaporated out of them. Such
sweets must be Immediately bottled up, or
preserved from the air, otherwise they alb
| sorb water and become semi-iquid Bar
ley-sugar is an example in point. If it is
not Theoretically sealed down in tins, it de-
| as we'll to know that this is the purest of
allsweets. being absolutely clarified sugar.
| and therefore the most wholesome for chill
| dren On the other hand, peppermint drops
are the most open to sophistication. They
should be made of crushed white sugar,
mixed into paste with gum. But the
temptation to adulterate is too great for
the dishonest trader to resist consequently,
in order to supply the cheap market, one
half plaster of Paris is mixed with inferior
sugar One can quite understand the sick
ness that overtakes children sometimes after
sucking these comfits the wonder is that
such mass of plaster does not interfere
more signally with their digestion. Juju-
hes, those flexible lozenges which stick so
in the teeth, contain a large portion of gum.
They are poured into tins to cool, slowed
for several hours, sliced into sheets, and
then cut by scissors into the well-known
diamond shapes.
The veritable sugar-plum, or almond
drop, is made in a very interesting manner.
A number of almonds after being coated
with a little gum to catch the white sugar,
are thrown into 4 deep pan surrounded
with steam. This pan rcvolves sideways
at an angle of forty-tive degrees. AS it re,