The Dickinson press., 1905-02-25
THE STORY OF SUGAR
CHINA SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN THE
FIRST CANE cUGTlvAToR.


hning Was Invented By . Fifteenth
Century Venetian.
Few other commodities possess lar
ger photography than sugar. Never
theless the early history of sugar Is
wrapped in obscurity. Formerly chem
lists called everything sugar" which
had sweet taste, but the term in Its
scientific sense soon came to be re-
stricted to the sweet principles in vege-
table and animal juices. Only one Of
these. cane sugar, was known as pure
substance until 1910, when an Italian
chemist isolated the sugar Of milk and
proved its individuality. The original
habitat of the sugar cane is not known,
but it seems to have been first cult
waited in China and to have extended
thence to India and Arabia at COM
paratively lutte date. Sugar is not men-
toned by either Grecian or Roman
writers until the time Of Nero, and sug-
ar candy was the first and only species
known to the European ancients. It
was the original manufacture Of the
east, particularly China, and found its
way into Europe us raw sugars did in
after ages by way Of India, Arabia
and the Red sea. Sugar when first in-
troduced into every country was used
only incidentally. Almost all physi-
clans, commencing with the Arab
leeches, employed it originally to rem
der unpleasant and nauseating medi-
cines grateful to the sick and recon-
mended it in complaints Of the chest
and lungs.
That which preserveth apples and plums
Will also preserve liver and lungs
is an old adage. But the use Of sugar
in sirups and preserves came later,
while barely three centuries have
elapsed since it became an Ingredient
in the popular diet Of Europe.
The Venetians were the fathers of
the European sugar trade. Anterior
to the year 1148 they both imported
considerable quantities Of sugar from
India and planted the cane in the island
of Sicily. With the produce Of this is-
land and the Indian imports the Vene-
tians carried on great trade and sup
piled all the markets Of Europe with
this commodity. However, the exact
date when sugar was first introduced
into England is difficult to ascertain.
One of the earliest references to sugar
in England is that Of 100000 pounds Of
sugar being shipped to London In 1919
by one LoredanaO. a merchant OF
Venice, to be exchanged for wool. In
the same year there appears in the ac-
counts of the chamberlain Of Scotland
a payment at the rate Of Is. 91ad. per
pound for sugar. Writing in 1880,
Chaucer mentions the sweetness Of
sugar allegorically.
The art of refining sugar and making
what is called loaf sugar was invented
by Venetian citizen toward the end
Of the fifteenth century. This same
art was first practiced in England in
1914, the adventurers being Thomas
Gardiner and Sir William Chester, as
sisted by three venetans. They were
proprietors Of the only two sugar
houses in England, but the profits aris-
ing from this concern were at first
small, as the sugar refiners at Ant
werp could supply the London market
cheaper. Eventually war stopped the
intercourse between London and Ant
werp, and these two houses supplied all
England for a space of twenty years
and greatly enriched the proprietors,
whose success induced many others to
embark in the same trade. In 1896
Sir Thomas Mildmay tried to create q
sugar trust. On the pretext that frauds
were practiced in refining sugar he Pc
titioned Elizabeth to grant him a H.
cense for the exclusive right Of retin-
ing sugar for term Of years, but the
queen refused the request
Meanwhile the Spaniards had become
in their turn the great disseminators of
the sugar cultivation. The cane was
planted by them in Madeira in 1920; 1t
was carried to the West Indies in 1906,
and it spread over the occupied por-
tions Of South America during the six
teenth century. Yet sugar continued
to be a costly luxury, an article SUBJ
ject to the control Of the physician and
confined to the apothecary's shop, till
the increasing use Of tea and coffee in
the eighteenth century brought it into
the list of principal food staples.
Sugar was believed to be an anttdote
to alcohol. Bacon warmly supports
the theory Of the power Of sugar not
only to render wine less intoxicating,
being mixed Herewith at the time Of
drinking it, but also when eaten after
ward to remove the Ill effects Of too
copious libations of unmingled wine.
Falstaff, it may be remembered, al
ways took sack and sugar." A Gu
rious echo of this theory cropped up at
the Lamson murder trial. The pris-
oner pleaded that the sugar brought
into the room to serve as suitable
vehicle for the aconitine which he in.
tended to administer to his victim was
really introduced to counteract the in.
huence OF some strong sherry they
were drinking. The great Duke of
Beaufort, who was a heavy drinker,
for forty years before his death used a
pound Of sugar daily in his wine.
The increased use Of sugar was cred
tied with having extinguished the
plague in Europe; it certainly contrib
uted to suppress the native malady OF
England, the scurvy. There used to be
custom In Wales on Ascension day
for children to form parties to take
sugar and water at neighboring we'll.
Each child was provided with sugar
and cup. The day was usually desig-
mated sugar and water day. The
superstition was that all who drank
Of the mixture there on that day would
be proof against illness and protected
from evil spirits for twelve months.
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