, 1876-09-13

ClllJJ u ISIeiGuCCs tCULl10 VI Lu6 uhIIlCS are
synonymous, or nearly so but have been
specially used by their particular advocates i;
others of the substances have been en-
ployed more for their mechanical than
chemical effects. and several have been
produced and employed in various ways,
while others have been used for the puE.
pose of eliminating the real clarifying
ageut. About the time of the great Exhi.
bltion in 1851, much was heard concern
ing Ramos Liquid for clarifying cane
juice. This preparation contained plan
tain juice, potash, lime and sulphur. In
1852 a Mr.. Egan patented a defeating
compound, which consisted Of the same
ingredients, minus the potash. In both
cases the use of p%lantain juice for clarity
ing was much Iauded as a brilliant I" disco
very" We have seen, however, that
pIantain ash was the first substance en-
ployed for Clarifying cane juice of which
we have any record; and the early Arabian
and Egyptian cu}tivators tried plantain-
juice amongst the many articles whose cLa.
rlfylng powers they tested Ey experiment,
In all probability, more than three-fourshs
of the agents included in the list given
above have been suggested in utter igno-
rance of the composition Of cane.juice and
the action intended to be produced. \
is scarcely surprising, therefore, that Inns,
which In some form or other appears to
have been in use ever since the introduce
tion of the sugar cane into tt new
world, should still be almost universally
employed, more especially as scarcely any
two planters would agree 10 their idea OF
tho rationale of its pmnl0vnnpf
A a curiosity in its way, the opinions
that have been held on this point may here
be quoted. Lime, it has been most gene.
rally believed, neutralises the acidity in the
Juice. But it has been asserted that, being
a i" fixed salt" it serves, it seems, to
shackIe or cryaalize (Which 1s'a degree of
ti%Xatiou) a very great quality ofthe essen
tial salt Of the sugar cane "making the
juice, when sufficiently boil'd, to kern or
granulate' Aud it has been stoutly main
5ained also that lime prevents fermentation,
precipitates the a!5umen, precipitates the
teculences, precipitates all the impurities,
prevents the formation of glucose, prevents
decomposition, improves the color or des-
troys the colorirg matter, renders the nj
trogrnOus matters insolub,e, sets free tho
potash, forms de,iQuescent or uncrystalliz-
able compounlswi witt the ''vogetable acids,"
ect., ect., Verify, 0 Lime "thy temper
is varied!'
At the most remote period, we find that
cauejuice was filtered through cloths. The
modern planter omitted this necessary pro.
cess, and hence arose the necessity for the
refner. Sir Hans Sloan, the founder of the
British Museum. relates how the advantage
Of the process Of cIaying was accidentally
discovered in Brazil by a hen, with clay
adhering to her feet, r%oosting on thu top OF
a pot full of sugar, which was found to be
whittier under the footprints when the clay
the hen had left behind her was removed.
The anecdote is q pretty one for a child's
lesson book Git is to be found in more than
one) but If the merit of discovery lies in
priority, the palm must be conceded to
some unknown ancestor of o Goldar, for
we have seen that the principle of claying
had been in practice 10 India for centuries
before it was rediscovered in Brazil.
IT. L. oo4.J