TAR-SUGAR

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1723, 30 November 1887, Page 3

TAR-SUGAR

The London correspondent of tho "ArguB 1 ' recently mentioned, m a cable message, that a large faotory had been established at Madgebnrg, m Germany, for the purpose of making saccharine matter from coal tar, the article produced being 300 times sweeter than sugar. With regard to this new produot, a correspondent of the Londoa periodical i '* Light, Heat, and Power,'* gives some interesting details. After giving the etory of the discovery of eacoharlae by a German chemist — Fahlberg— at the John Hopkins University m Baltimore, Md., he Bays that while it took a long time and much hard study to learn the philosophy of its production, It has taken eight years to reduce the manufacture of it to a commercial basis. It was formerly supposed that the physical quality of sweetness was typified by the oarbo. hydrates ; that Is, the sugars and those starches whioh, by chemloal treatment, are brought into the group. But Fahlberg'a discovery does away with this old standard practically and scientifically. It (s 230 times sweeter than the sweetest cane sugar, equal to unity; What is more extraordinary, it differs wholly In principle from all the oarbo-hydrate group ; that is, from all other known sugars, m noway belngauaoeptible to fermentation. Every housewife knows how preserved fruit mildews, how jam moulds, and how yeast ferments and spoils. AH the operations are the result of the action of organisms feeding on the sugar, therefore an inseparable feature of all sweetening process. But yon cannot produce fermentation m saccharine. On the contrary, it le a powerful preservative — a quality ir possessoaa im common with all coal tar produots. Of this the oorresDondent says he hid some curious illuotratfons from tbe samples Mr Salmon had brought with him from MBgdeburg. There were Btravrberries, for instance, put up over a year ago, which had never been cooked, and whlcn preserved absolutely their flavor of the garden. Another novel and Interesting quality of this new produot is that it la striolly antldlabutio. German pbysiolans are making mnch of thta phase of tbe discovery, and there has already been established an Independent faotory for the manufacture of antidiabetlo bisouits for the uae of the large olass of patients to whom all sweetening has heretofore been forbidden On this point the correspondent says there seems to be no doubt. He was shown copies of the declarations of Professors L&ydea of the Berlin University ; Stadelmann of the Heldelburg University j Stutger of Bonn ; and Moeso and Aducoo, of Turin, all made upon personal analysis, and all highly oommendiDg the dlaoovery as a gain not only to commerce but to medical science. Professor Sir Henry Roscoe, m a lecture before the Royal Institute m London, has already described the new oompound as "the most remarkable of the many remarkable produots of coal tar." An immense faotory with the best machinery and appliances was started m Magdeburg, Germany, m February, employing between 200 and 300 workmen to manufacture sacoharlne, with a oapltal of nearly £200,000. The oorrespoo dent sayß ' l that of course the prlnoipal idea of tho introduction of Baooharine, bo far as America's sugar trade goes, is that by combination with glucose a sugar can be made which will drive cone sugar to the wall," According to thia authority, it Ib a mistake to call "saccharine "either an adulteration or an unworthy chemical trick. It Is a great solentifio development, an honest produot, possessing marvellouß properties. None of these, it is asserted, aro Irjarloas while some aro m the highest degree valuablo. The coal tar to be used m the Ma;»deburr/ factory comes from England, which country produces many thousands of tons of this produot of gas making

II is said that at leaßt 450,000 meteors fall from the heavens and strike the earth every hour during tho year ; and yet when a man goes home with a damaged hat, and tells his wifo he was struck by a meteor, she will not believe him.

A return presented to the House on Wednesday shows that there were m Deoember last 288 private sohools m the oolony, which were attended by 12,197 soholars. Of theso Behools 128 had less than 20 pupils, but 72 had over 50 pupils, 20 between 40 and 50 pupils, 27 botween 30 and 40, and 41 between 20 and 30. Of the total number 8363 children attended Roman Catholio schools with over 50 soholarß m each.