WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE CHIPS.
By the first action of water in 1, ½ of the sugar was left in cell 1; by the second ¼ was left, by the third 1/8 was left, by the fourth 1/16 was left, by the fifth 1/32 was left, by the sixth 1/64 was left, by the seventh 1/128 was left, by the eighth 1/256 was left, by the ninth 1/512 was left. The fractions representing the strength of the juice on the one hand and the sugar left in each cell on the other hand, after the battery is fully in operation, are not so readily deduced. The theory is easily understood, however, although the computation is somewhat intricate. Those who desire to follow the process by mathematical formula are referred to pages 9 and 10, Bulletin No. 2, Chemical Division U.S. Department of Agriculture, where will be found the formula furnished by Professor Harkness, of the U.S. Naval Observatory.
For the sake of simplifying the explanation, it was assumed that the water added is equal in volume to the juice in a cellful of cane chips. In practice more water is added, to secure more perfect exhaustion of the chips, and with the result of yielding about thirteen volumes of juice for every nine volumes as it exists in the cane, and of extracting 92.04 per cent. of all the sugars from the cane, as shown by the report of Dr. C.A. Crampton, Assistant Chemist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.