Mexico weekly ledger., 1881-07-28
SUGAR.
Something OF the Manufacture Of h
Staple Article of Commerce.

SUGAR.
Something OF the Manufacture Of This
Staple Article OF Commerce.
lProf. W. J. Rolfe in congregationaiistl
Sugar, now one of the most important
articles of food and of commerce., was un-
known to the ancient Hebrews, Greeks,
and Romans OF known only as a curiosi-
ty. Its place was filled by honey, which
is the type of sweetness in the Bible and
in the Greek and Latin classics. One
Greek writer speaks of sugar IS "a, honey
contained in reeds;" and about seven
hundred years after Christ, another de-
scribes it as "India salt, resembling COM
mon salt in color and consistency, but
honey in TASTE" The sugar-cane, which
is a native of the East, and was raised in
China and India from a very remote
period, was first brought into Europe by
the Saracens in the 9th century, and was
cultivated by them in Cyprus and Sicily.
In the 18th century it was introduced
into Madeira and the Canary Isles,
whence it was soon carried to Brazil and
the West Indies. Sugar wa not known
in England until the 14th century, and
in 1929 it was sold in Scotland at one
m of silver (about four dollars in our
money! a pound. 1t did not become an
article of common use until early in the
18th century, or less than three hundred
years ago. Since then the demand for it
has very rapidly increased, and is likely
to increase indefinitely in the future.
"Men and nations differ widely in re-
spect to most kinds of food, sauce, and
drinks. Neither wheat, rice, flesh, nor
potatoes can command unanimous favor.
No article of housekeeping, say sugar,
q be named which is universally &C.
ceptable to the infant and the aged, the
civilized and the savage"
More than six thousand million
pounds of sugar are now made yearly
from the sugar-cane, and two thousand
million pounds from beet-juice. Con-
siderable quantities are also made from
the sap of the palm and the maple. The
average amount consumed by each in
habitant of Great Britain and the
United States is about As pounds a year.
In Great Britain it increased from 20
pounds in 1916 to 40 pounds in 1865 and
43 pounds in 1869.
Sugar is composed of carbon, oxygen,
and hydrogen. Charcoal, black-lead Gas
We call it, though there is no lead in it),
and the diamond, are forms of carbon.
Water is a compound of oxygen and n.y.
drogen in the same proportions as they
exist in sugar. Hence sugar has been
aid to be made up of charcoal and wa
.r." Starch and "woody fiber" (the
did part of woody are also composed of
srbon, oxygen. and hydrogen. We
ave this woody fiber in nearly a pure
ate in linen and cotton cloth. Both
arch and woody fiber can be changed
- sugar. The process, briefly stated, is
simply boiling them in water with a lit.
tie sulphuric acid. A potnd of linen
rags yields rather more than a pound OF
sugar. Sawdust or paper may be used
instead of linen or cotton.
But this rag-sugar is not precisely the
same substance as cane-sugar. There are
many kinds of sugar with different pro.
portions of carbon, oxygen, and hydro.
gem, of which the most important are
cane-sugar and grape-sugar. Milk-sugar,
found in milk is chiefly used in medicine.
Beet-sugar, maple-sugar, and palm-su'
gar are the same as c~ane-sugar. Grape
sugar Tor glucose, as it is often called) is
found in the juice of grapes, cherries,
Strawberries, figs, pears, apples, and
many other fruits. It is not 30 sweet as
~cane-sugar, and does not dissolve SC
easily in water. We often see it crystal
lied on the outside of raisins and figs
This is the kind of sugar made from
starch and rags; thousands of tons of il
are manufactured in Europe and thi.
country, chiefly from starch. 1t is uset
in confectionery, in adulterating cane
sugar, and in making beer, wine, ant
alcohol. Alcohol, like sugar, is com
posed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen
and is always derived from sugar il
some form.
Cane-sugar cannot be made artifcially
but can only be obtained from vegetable
juices. In these it exists dissolved il
water, and is got in solid form by boilin,
down the juice and then letting it crys
tallize. If one could find out a cheaI
and easy way of turning starch or woo(
or grape-sugar into cane sugar, he would
soon make his fortune.
Some scientific men believe that grape
sugar in confectionery is injurious Il
health; but this has not been %clearl,
proved. Cane-sugar is undoubtedly nu
tritious and wholesome, especially wheI
mixed with other food or taken with on,
regular meals. If much of it is eater
alone, as in candies, or between meals, i
is apt to disturb the stomach and inter
fere with digestion. 1t is commonl,
supposed to injure the teeth, but this
probably an error. Much of the chea]
confectionery sold is harmful from tn
substances mixed with the sugar, AM
especially from the poisonous %colorinl
matter in it. It is best to avoid all high
ly-colored candies, and also those strong
ly favored with ssences and spices.
Sugar is an antiseptic; that is, it pre-
vents decay in animal and vegetable
substances. The sugar In dried figs
dates, ETC., and also in "sugar-cured'
hams, helps to preserve them: and 'pre
serves" are fruits protected by a syrul
of sugar.
For household purposes, refined suga
Is really the cheapest. In buying coarse
dark sugars, a high price is paid TO
moisture and dirt. Besides, these dark
impure sugars are sometimes infested
with small ~insects, or sngar-mites, which
are never found in the refined article.