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Show 5A SUGAR-CANE,. SUGAR-CANE. on the «¢ The proportion of sugar to the cane-juice depends a from sugar of pound a quality of the cane. We consider hogsheads of gallon of «cane-jiice, as good yielding; and three produce. sugar, of 14 cwt. each, from an acre of land, as ample canes, of the and good, be But for this quantity the soil must thefirst year’s cutting, and in perfection. of ‘¢ In the process of refining muscovado sugar, a ton weight, : products good quality, gives the following Double andsingle refined sugar = = = Piece ditto = Scale, or bastard ditto Melasses, or treacle - - = Scum we divtal Sa 9 4 2 4 0 20 0 2) ‘ That sugar is nutritious in the most eminent degree has been long known. . q It is the basis of all vegetable nutrition. “ Every root and earthly production is nutritious in proportion to the saccharine principle it contains. Nothing nourishes that is entirely free from this saccharine principle; otherwise turnips would be as little nutritive as cucumbers, being, like them, the sugar excepted, scarcely any thing but water. “ Milk is nutritious on the same account, and that milk is most nutritious which most abounds with saccharine sweetness ; and when milk is defective in this quality, from bad pasturage and other causes, our vegetable sugar should be addedto it, to remedy such defect. ‘¢fn all cases sugar helps the assimilation of milk in the stomach, and not onlyprevents its curdling, and disordering that organ, but corrects the tendency which milk has to injure the breath, by adhering to the teeth and gums, and rendering them 55 milk diet in similar cases to his own, wished to have recourse to it in the same manner, and makeit a principal part of his sus. tenance; buthe could not. It curdled, and becamesour, heavy, and disgusting in his stomach. He was always very fond of milk, but never could use it without inconvenience, even when he was a boy, However, on reading the former edition of this work, he was determined to have anothertrial of milk, with the addition of some sugar. ‘This succeeded, and he now makes two meals every dayentirely on milk and bread, with great pleasure and comfort, and with infinite advantage to his health. ‘¢ As milk has the propertyof injuring the teeth, and is much used in schools, and constitutes great part of the sustenance of most young people, a tooth-brush and water should always be employed; or at least the mouth should be well rinsed with water, after a meal made of milk. ** No modern physicians have noticed this; but the ancients were well acquainted with the injurious effects of milk on the teeth and gums *. In regard to sugar being prejudicial to the teeth, this has Jong been knownas a prudent old woman’s bugbear tofrighten children, that they might not follow their natural inclination, byseizing opportunities, when they are not watched, of devouring all the sugar they can find. This story has had a goodeffect among the common people in Scotland. They are impressed with a notion that sweeties hurt the teeth; therefore they live contented without an article not always within the compass oftheir finances. “* Slare, and many others, used sagaras a principal ingredient in tooth powders. It is a component part of many pastes, and other dentifrices ; and what the Frenchcall opiates, for the preservation of the teeth and gums. * Whenmilk is not fisapis diet of children at their mother’s foul and offensive. “¢ There are many people to whoma milk diet would be a great convenienceand gratification ; and there are some habits of body and disorders wherein it would often be of the utmost utility3 but the stomach frequently is unable to bear it. Here sugaris the only means to reconcile the disagreement. ** A learned and worthy relation of mine, having been much afflicted with the gout, and having seen the good effects of 3 * P. Hginete, lib. i. c. 86.—Lac gingivas et dentes ledit. Quare post ipsum acceptum, primum aqua inulsa, deinde vino adstringente, os colluere oportet. dri Sth Of sos . ae ~ * . Oribasii & Galeno Medicin. Collect. lib. ti. c. 59.—Mirum in modum usus lactis frequens dentes ett gir ivas ladit, nam gingivas flaccidas, dentes putrefactioni et erosioni obnoxios facit: ergo sumpto lacte, os vino diluto colluendumest ; erit etiam accominodatius si mel eidemadjicias. |