, 1877-04-25

ger OF one Of the most extensive and
weII-cOndr cted estates il the West Indies.
This error, of the clarifying ability of lime,
has been so partially challenged, that we
see 1t IS accepted as a truth whereas che.
mlSlry-that great %reveaIer of ctets-
proves the assertion 10 b0 a misleading
error and, what is more, daily experience
confirms, by the immense less of sugar,
what chemistry proves.
1t would occupy too much space. to
trace here, the history of attempts which.
from time TO time, have been made. to
struggle out Of such thraldom, and the
vital conditions Of rescue intensity the
difficulty. The practical man wants to
throw some chemical into the cane-iuice,
"8nd have done with it, and we see in
your last issue, that Dir. Eastes has done
this with success and what is more, "got
all the sugar" Such a pretty, prompt
process, il correct, must become vastly
popular. 1t cannot very ssveie'y tax The
understanding of the most obtuse Intellect
that ever haudled a su gar ladle. Although
we would not attempt to pry into Mr..
Eastes' secret "chemical," still we may
look at those figures with which his
generosity supplies us.
We may see that Mr.. East,s produced
24O0ibs. Of sugar from 1900 gallons OF
cone-iuico of 100 B, in Que operation;
whilst a similar quantity and quality Of
Juice produced 10 more sugar in three
boi,ings, on the old process. This gives
an advantage of 3 10 l in favour Of Mr..
Els process, 30 far as boiling goes. Now
l shall not be surprised when told, there
must have been no less than 3676lbs. Of
sugar in that cane-juice, and II so, Mr..
E0s.es must have lost 1276Ibs. when get
ting his 24OOlbs. In point Of fact. this
loss was common to the old, as we'll as
the new process, so there is nothing gained
in quantity. 1t would seem that Mr..
tastes assumed it as a fact, that these
three b0ijings had got out all the contain
cd sugar; and because he had lest no
sugar ~ m0lasses, nor IN Scum;aing, he
must have felt convinced Of his success.
and those around, 70 doubt, offered him
abundant congratulations, although, by
lis own showing, he must have lost sugar,
for he got no more product than did the
old process, which lost by fermentation,
mo'asses, and ecummiugs. We must, for
the present, allow his "chemical" to
remain q secret.
A somewhat parallel case is recorded
thus, by William Reed, and some Of your
readers may be old enough to remember
all about il. The record may be taken as
we find it, in terso and appropriate Ian
gnage.
"Some years ago Dr.. S%cofiern took out
patent, on which more than ESQ 900
had been expended. in his endeavour 10
acquire q more efficient purifying agcns
than lime, thereby removing foreign mat
tiers at once Jas we see that Mr.. Eastes pro.
fegsos to dol TIE learned doctor devoted
considerable time TO the subject. Instead
of merely getting out seven per cent. OF
the eighteen to twenty thrte, found In
cane Juice. as now accomplished in the
West Indies, THEY have since got to nine
per cent? he has seen twenty per
cent, extracted from Spanish cane
juice. In the very first year of this patent
he sold a fortie,h part Of IT for $4,000, and
the sale was considered q favour. A
London reiner, moreover, paid him FL per
ton royalty on his rroduce-about ESQ
per week" l can have no doubt that
similar eagerness attends Mr.. Eastes'
" discovery" for it has the sam indnce.
ment to - have done with it" by the very