place during the strychnism, and without the antidote, cardiac impulses are observed post mortem; when it takes place after and through the use of bromide, cardiac impulses are never observed. 7. The experiments show that it is preferable to introduce the camphor by gastric ingestion and not subcutaneously, the latter method not giving very satisfactory results. Dr. Valenti considers that the dose of monobromated camphor in cases of poisoning by strychnia should be from 4 to 6 grammes. Adulterations.-Brucia may be present in large quantities, rendering the alkaloid much less powerful; this may be detected by the red colour produced by nitric acid. The bark of Strychnos nux vomica (false Angustura bark), containing, like the seeds, strychnia, is sometimes employed to adulterate the true Angustura bark. See BRUCIA, &c. Sturgeon-The common sturgeon is the Acipenser sturio of Linn. The flesh is firmer than that of other fish, and resembles veal in consistence. It is but little eaten in this country at the present day. The roe is made into caviare, and the swimming-bladder into isinglass. Suet-See Butter, Fat. Sugar (C12H29011)-The ordinary sugar met with in commerce in this country is extracted from the sugar-cane (Saccharum officinarum), and called cane-sugar or sucrose. In China it is obtained from the sweet sorgho (Sorghum saccharatum), in America from the sugar-maple (Acer saccharinum), and in France from the white beetroot (Beta vulgaris, var. alba). The sugar-cane, although so extensively cultivated in America, is really a native of the Old World. It appears to have been cultivated in China and the South Sea Islands long before the period of authentic history, but was almost unknown to the Greeks and Romans. In 1520 the Spaniards transplanted it to St. Domingo from the Canary Islands, and from this island it has gradually spread over the West Indies and the regions of the American continent. The refuse water from sugar manufactories becomes rapidly foetid, from the presence of large quantities of vegetable and animal organisms acting like ferments, and liberating sulphuretted hydrogen from the sulphates in the water. Herr Simon proposed to deodorise such water by a mixture of quicklime, coal tar, and magnesium chloride. The proportions are quicklime (slaked), 1 bushel; coal tar, 10 lbs.; magnesium chloride, 15 lbs. Chemical Composition. The following state Avequin gives the following as being the mineral constituents of the brown sugar of commerce: Silica, phosphate and subphosphate of lime, carbonate of lime, sulphate of potash, chloride of potassium, and the acetates of potash and lime. Pure cane-sugar has a specific gravity of 1606. The specific gravity of the cane-juice varies, according to Pareira, from 1067 to 1106; Mr. Fownes found it to range from 1070 to 1.090. The purest white sugar contains about 069 per cent. of hygroscopic moisture, '02 of ash, and 99.92 of sugar. Pure sugar is remarkable in being the heaviest organic compound which does not contain either iodine or metals. At the common temperatures 100 parts of water dissolve 300 parts of sugar. Its solubility in boiling water is usually described as being indefinite. It is probable that no organic solution containing an equal percentage of organic matter has so high a specific gravity as a solution of cane-sugar. Sugar is insoluble in ether; it dissolves freely in weak alcohol, but in absolute alcohol it is not soluble. An aqueous solution is thick and syrupy. It acts powerfully on polarised light, rotating it to the right, whereas grape and fecula sugars bend it to the left. Under suitable conditions it crystallises very finely in double oblique prisms. In the form of large crystals it is known as sugar-candy. The ordinary loafsugar consists of a congeries of minute transparent crystals, and the dazzling whiteness of the purest specimens is produced by the numerous reflections and refractions which the rays of light experience within the mass, from the numberless crystals of which it is composed. Dilute acids alter the aqueous solution, and on their addition, its action on polarised light is inverted, and its power of crystallising destroyed. Albuminous substances have the same effect. Oxide of copper is not in the slightest degree reduced by aqueous solutions of sugar; when, however, uncrystallisable sugar is present, the reduction of oxide of copper to red suboxide of copper is immediate at the boiling-point. The loaf-sugar of commerce is, speaking generally, perfectly free from nitrogen, and is also devoid of uncrystallisable sugar. Writing on this point, Mr. Wanklyn says, "I once burnt up a considerable quantity [of sugar] | with oxide of copper, and proved the entire absence of nitrogen gas in the products; and recently I have submitted it to the action of boiling permanganate of potash in the presence of much caustic potash, and proved the nonproduction of ammonia." Structure of Sugar-Cane.-It consists of nearly cylindrical rods or stems, divided into joints at irregular distances, and it is made up of cellular tissue, woody fibre, vessels, and epidermis. The cellular tissue consists of a large number of cells which enclose the juice. Their length is generally greater than the breadth, and the membranes which form the walls of the cells are all finely dotted or punctated. The woody fibre traverses the cane in a longitudinal direction in distinct bundles, which give to transverse sections a dotted appearance. The vessels follow the same disposition as the woody fibre. There are two kinds-(1) interrupted spiral or dotted vessels; and (2) simple or continuous spiral vessels. The epidermis is composed of elongated crenate cells, and contains stomata. At the distal extremity of each internode of the cane, the ordinary epidermic cells are replaced or overlaid by a layer of cells having totally different characters. They are usually a little longer than broad, more or less rounded or oval in shape, with their edges marked by short and well-defined lines disposed in a radiate manner. These cells resemble somewhat the cells found in the stones of fruit, and they form by their union a zone round the cane, polished hard, and of about the third of an inch in depth.-(HASSALL.) Fragments of sugar-cane are present in the raw sugars of the shops, and in "bastards,” a product of the manufacture of loaf-sugar. Sugar as an Article of Diet.-Sugar alone | is insufficient to support life, but when mixed with other suitable food it evidently contributes towards force production in the body, and towards the formation and accumulation of fat. This last action of sugar is illustrated in the change that occurs in the condition of the negro during the sugar-making season in the West Indies. The workpeople grow conspicuously stouter, and they attribute this increase of fat to the habit that prevails of constantly chewing pieces of the succulent cane whilst they are working amongst it. It sometimes undergoes in the stomach an acid fermentation, and so may occasion distress to the dyspeptic; but usually being of a soluble and diffusible nature, it sits lightly on the stomach. Sugar is generally supposed to injure the teeth, but there is no trustworthy evidence on this point. Sugar contributes to the formation of lactic acid, and supplies material for the maintenance of life. Ten grains of lump sugar, according to Letheby, possesses calorific power sufficient to raise 8'61 inches of water 1° F.; and it will lift 6647 lbs. 1 foot high. Consumption of Sugar.-Dr. Edward Smith found that 98 per cent. of indoor operatives partook of sugar to the extent of 7 oz. per adult weekly; 96 per cent. of Scotch labourers use it, and 80 per cent. of Irish. In Wales also it is commonly used to an average extent of 6 oz. per adult weekly; but there is a marked difference in the rate of consumption in the northern and southern portions of the country. The sugar-mite-the Acarus sacchari-is often found in raw, but never in refined, sugar. This insect cannot, however, exist in a specimen of sugar destitute of nitrogen, and the possibilities of the presence of these insects may be judged of through a determination of the nitrogen (or still better, of albuminoid ammonia) in the sugar. From 100 parts of moist sugar not more than 2 part of albuminoid ammonia may be obtained. -(WANKLYN.) The acarus can usually be detected by the unaided sight, if not, the microscope may reveal its presence. This insect is fully described in article ACARUS SACCHARI. Adulterations of Cane-Sugar.-Other sugars, water, sand, plaster-of-Paris, chalk, glucose, and, as an accidental impurity, lead. Sporules and filaments of fungus are found in most raw sugars. The ordinary loaf-sugar of commerce is rarely adulterated, and the ash left on incinerating it does not exceed '01 per cent. of the sugar. The raw sugar of the shops is a much more genuine article than it is usually supposed to be; but it is not nearly so pure as the "lump" sugar, for it contains a certain proportion of mineral matter derived from the plant; | more or less darkly coloured or precipitated, this, expressed as ash, ranges from 49 to 61 according to the amount present; it may also per cent. of the sugar. The detection of be detected in the ash. admixtures of mineral matter with sugar is therefore very easy; all that is required to be done is to take the ash. The solubility is also a test for sand, plaster, chalk, &c., which remain undissolved when sugar is treated with water. If dissolved beneath the microscope, these sophistications are at once detected. Iodine may be added to determine the presence of starch. The percentage of water may be found by drying thoroughly 100 grains and again weighing. For discovering the presence of other sugars the following may be employed :— Tests, &c.-1. Boiled for a short time in water containing 2 or 3 per cent. of caustic potassa, the liquid remains colourless; but it turns brown if starch-sugar is present; even 2 or 3 per cent. of starch-sugar may be thus detected. Beetroot-Sugar is extracted by pressing out the juice from the ripe roots of the white beet; these are generally gathered in October. This juice contains about 10 per cent. of sugar, which in the fresh juice is entirely of the crystallisable kind; but it is seldom possible to extract in the crystalline form more than half the quantity the root contains. The crystals of beetroot - sugar are longer and flatter than those furnished by sugar from the cane, but they cannot otherwise be distinguished from the latter. Grape-Sugar (starch-sugar, glucose, dextrose) (C6H12O6H2O = 180 + 18; specific gravity, 1.400).-This substance, since it has been legal to use sugar as well as malt in the manufacture of beer, is made on a very large scale. It is made from the cheapest starch procurable, which at present happens to be rice starch. The starch is crushed between rollers, and macerated with an alkaline liquid; by this means the gluten is dissolved out and the liquid thrown away. The next operation is the treatment of the starch with dilute sulphuric acid; then it is placed in a digester, and submitted to the action of steam at 20 lbs. pressure for about half an hour. After this operation it has become an impure solution of 2. A filtered solution of 33 grains of cane or beet sugar in 1 fluid ounce of water, mixed with 3 grains of pure hydrate of potassium, and then agitated with 1 grains of sulphate of copper, in an air-tight bottle, remains clear even after the lapse of several days; but if starch-sugar be present, a red precipitate is formed after some time; and if it is present in considerable quantity, the copper will be wholly converted into oxide within twenty-grape-sugar. four hours, the solution turning first blue or green, and then entirely losing its colour. -(E. KRANTZ.) 3. A solution of cane-sugar is mixed with a solution of sulphate of copper, and hydrate of potassium added in excess; a blue liquid is obtained, which on being heated is at first but little altered. A small quantity of red powder falls after a time, but the liquid long retains its blue tint. When grape-sugar or fecula-sugar is thus treated, the first application of heat throws down a copious greenish precipitate, which rapidly changes to scarlet, and eventually to dark red, leaving nearly a colourless solution. The To part of grape-sugar may be thus detected. The proportion of oxide of copper produced forms a good criterion, not only of the purity, but also of the extent of the adulteration. The specific gravities and crystalline forms offer other means of distinguishing the varieties of sugar. The relative sweetening power of cane-sugar is estimated at 100, that of pure grape-sugar at 60, that of fecula or starch sugar at 30 to 40. Lead may be detected in some refined sugars by passing through the solution a current of sulphuretted hydrogen, when, if the metal is present, the liquid will become The liquid is run into a vat neutralised with chalk, the sulphate of lime separated by filtration; and finally the sugar is evaporated in vacuo, and purified with animal charcoal in the usual way. The yield of sugar from the rice is about 85 per cent. It is less sweet and soluble than cane-sugar; it requires for its solution 1 parts of water, and is in the form of granular warty masses, without distinct crystalline faces. A good sample of glucose contains about 80 per cent. of sugar, and a mere trace of gum and mineral matter. Milk-Sugar (lactin or lactose, C12H22O11H2O) -White, translucent, very hard cylindrical masses, or four-sided prisms. Soluble in about six parts of cold and in two parts of boiling water. Milk contains about 5 per cent. of it. It is not susceptible of vinous fermentation, except under the action of dilute acids, which convert it into grape-sugar. An alkaline solution when boiled with the salts of copper reduces them. Effects of the Varieties of Sugar on Polarised Light.-Both cane-sugar and grape-sugar produce rotation upon a ray of polarised light. The plane of polarisation is rotated to the right by sucrose rather less powerfully than by dextrose. It is remarkable that the un The specific rotatory power of a sugar or other organic compound is expressed by the number of degrees that the plane of polarisation is rotated to the right or to the left by the pure substance dissolved in water, when a column of the solution 100 millimetres in depth is examined by polarised light in a suitable apparatus. Sugar, Estimation of (Saccharometry).— There are two principal methods of estimating sugar-viz. (1) a chemical process; (2) an optical process. 1. Chemical Processes.—(a.) By reducing the oxide of copper to the suboxide, 10 cubic cenentimetres of the solution of copper (given under VOLUMETRIC SOLUTIONS) are measured into a small flask or porcelain dish, and 40 cubic centimetres of water added. This is heated to gentle ebullition, and the solution of sugar, which has been put into a burette, added in small portions slowly. The red suboxide is thrown down, and the sugar solution must be added until there is not the least blue tinge. The reaction is complete when the supernatant clear fluid neither contains copper nor a brown product of the decomposition of the latter substance. In order to ascertain this, it is well to filter off a little of the fluid while still hot. The filtrate should be colourless; it should not reduce the copper solution, nor give a precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen. If the filtrate shows any of these reactions, a second estimation must be made. Another method is simply to precipitate the suboxide, collect on a weighed filter, wash with boiling water, and weigh;-100 parts of anhydrous grape-sugar = 2205 of oxide of copper, or 198 2 of suboxide of copper. The sugar in the juice of grapes, apples, &c., may be submitted to the process without preparation; fermented liquids are best treated first with acetate of lead solution. Dark vegetable juices must be clarified, first by milk of lime, and then by animal charcoal. Liquids containing cane-sugar, or cane-sugar itself, must be converted into grape-sugar by boiling for two or three hours with dilute sulphuric acid. 100 parts of grape-sugar = 95 of cane-sugar, 475 gramme of cane-sugar decomposing 10 cubic centimetres of the copper solution. Milk-sugar, although reducing copper, does so in a different proportion, and must therefore first be converted into grape. Starch and dextrine require very protracted boiling with dilute acid to change them into sugar; the best method most decidedly is to put about 5 gramme into strong tubes, hermetically sealed, and heat for half a day in a bath of saturated common salt. 100 parts of grapesugar 90 of starch, 045 gramme of starch reduces 10 cubic centimetres of copper solution. (b.) When sugar is fermented with yeast it undergoes alcoholic fermentation, with elimination of carbonic acid. It would be an accurate process if these were the only products; but various other principles are derived from the sugar, such as glycerine, succinic acid, cellulose, and fats. The carbonic acid may be estimated and collected by an absorption apparatus. 47 parts of carbonic acid equal 100 parts of anhydrous grape-sugar. It is a process abounding with a saccharometer, or in the ordinary way, fairly sources of error. (c.) The specific gravity of saccharine solutions, whether taken by an instrument called indicates the percentage, providing the solutions are those of pure sugar. The following tables will be useful for this purpose: TABLE I. Showing the PERCENTAGE of SUGAR, by WEIGHT in VOLUME of SOLUTION, for all SPECIFIC GRAVITIES with FOUR DECIMALS, from Specific Gravity 10040 to Specific Gravity 10250, at a Temperature of 63° F. (17-2 C.) |