Cane sugar as an article of food closely resembles starch, but it is soluble and therefore more easily digested. It is readily distinguished by its sweet taste. It is found in many animal juices and also in fruits, but exists mainly in vegetable juices which have little or no acid in their sap, like sugar cane, rock maple, and beet-root. In its natural state it is dissolved in the vegetable fluids, mingled with many other substances. It is obtained by crushing the raw material ; the fluids thus obtained are heated with a solution of lime, which causes the impurities to separate and rise in scum. These are removed, and the purified juice boiled down until it solidifies as a brownish de- posit. This brown sugar is again dissolved, boiled, and filtered through charcoal, evaporated, and crystallized. Molasses is the drainage of the raw sugar. Brown sugar is the first product. Granulated sugar is brown sugar refined and re-crystallized. All brown and moist sugars are inferior in quality ; they contain water and mineral matter, and are sometimes infested by a minute insect. Loaf sugar is the purest. Sucrose, or cane sugar, is changed, by the acids of the gastric juice and the nitrogenous matter of the food, into grape sugar, or glucose. One of the most remarkable properties of sugar is that it can be decomposed and converted into other substances by fermentation. In its chemical relations sugar ranks with acids, and combines with bases, as in sugar of lead. It melts at 320°, and by cooling forms a transparent amber-colored solid known as barley sugar. If heated to 420°, it forms a brown mass, called caramel. Sugar has great preservative powers, and is used in preserving fruits, hams, bacon, etc. Glucose^ or grape sugar, is abundantly distributed throughout the vegetable kingdom. It is found in honey, figs, grapes, and other fruits which have acid juices. It is less sweet than cane sugar, and is immediately absorbed into the circulation when taken into the stomach. It is less soluble and less easily crystallized than sucrose. Lactose^ or milk sugar, is obtained only from the milk of mam- malia. It has the composition of cane sugar, and is converted into grape sugar when taken as food. The Boston Cook Booh 459 Fats. Fats, or oleaginous substances, are composed of carbon, hydro- gen, and oxygen, — the two former elements preponderating, — and, having a very strong affinity for oxygen, are highly combustible. Fats are solid; oils are liquid. Fats may be changed to oil by a slight accession of heat, and are obtained from both animal and vegetable tissues, — suet and dripping, from beef fat; lard, from the fat of pigs; butter, from the cream of milk; olive oil, from the fleshy pulp of the fruit of the olive tree. Oil is also found in nuts, seeds, cereals, and fruits. Croton oil, used for medicinal purposes, is from a plant, a native of India; cod liver oil, from the liver of cod fish ; castor oil, from the seeds of the castor-oil plant.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Cane sugar as an article of food closely resembles starch, but it is soluble and therefore more easily digested. It is readily distinguished by its sweet taste. It is found in many animal juices and also in fruits, but exists mainly in vegetable juices which have little or no acid in their sap, like sugar cane, rock maple, and beet-root. In its natural state it is dissolved in the vegetable fluids, mingled with many other substances. It is obtained by crushing the raw material ; the fluids thus obtained are heated with a solution of lime, which causes the impurities to separate and rise in scum. These are removed, and the purified juice boiled down until it solidifies as a brownish deposit. This brown sugar is again dissolved, boiled, and filtered through charcoal, evaporated, and crystallized. Molasses is the drainage of the raw sugar. Brown sugar is the first product. Granulated sugar is brown sugar refined and re-crystallized. All brown and moist sugars are inferior in quality ; they contain water and mineral matter, and are sometimes infested by a minute insect. Loaf sugar is the purest. Sucrose, or cane sugar, is changed, by the acids of the gastric juice and the nitrogenous matter of the food, into grape sugar, or glucose. One of the most remarkable properties of sugar is that it can be decomposed and converted into other substances by fermentation. In its chemical relations sugar ranks with acids, and combines with bases, as in sugar of lead. It melts at 320°, and by cooling forms a transparent amber-colored solid known as barley sugar. If heated to 420°, it forms a brown mass, called caramel. Sugar has great preservative powers, and is used in preserving fruits, hams, bacon, etc. Glucose, or grape sugar, is abundantly distributed throughout the vegetable kingdom. It is found in honey, figs, grapes, and other fruits which have acid juices. It is less sweet than cane sugar, and is immediately absorbed into the circulation when taken into the stomach. It is less soluble and less easily crystallized than sucrose. Lactose, or milk sugar, is obtained only from the milk of mammalia. It has the composition of cane sugar, and is converted into grape sugar when taken as food. The Boston Cook Booh Fats. Fats, or oleaginous substances, are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, — the two former elements preponderating, — and, having a very strong affinity for oxygen, are highly combustible. Fats are solid; oils are liquid. Fats may be changed to oil by a slight accession of heat, and are obtained from both animal and vegetable tissues, — suet and dripping, from beef fat; lard, from the fat of pigs; butter, from the cream of milk; olive oil, from the fleshy pulp of the fruit of the olive tree. Oil is also found in nuts, seeds, cereals, and fruits. Croton oil, used for medicinal purposes, is from a plant, a native of India; cod liver oil, from the liver of cod fish ; castor oil, from the seeds of the castor-oil plant.

Mrs. Lincoln's Boston cook book