George announced that there was less than two pounds of the honey left, and proposed that a trip be taken to the flats, where the Professor had found the sugar cane. All joined in the journey to the cane field, and Angel was invited to join, which invitation was accepted by him gleefully.
The bolos were taken for the purpose of cutting the cane, and on the way George's inevitable question point was in evidence. "What did people use for sweetening purposes before cane was discovered?"
"Honey was the principal source of the world's sweets. But cane is not the only kind of vegetable from which the principle has been extracted. There are many kinds of reeds which furnish a sweetish substance. Sugar cane was first made known in eastern Europe by the conquest of Alexander the Great. Nearchus, one of his admirals, in sailing down the Indus, found the reed, and it was, previous to that time, known throughout the greater part of India. He described it as a kind of honey growing in canes and reeds. From this you may infer that honey was the principal source of sweets in his time."
"What are the other principal plants or substances that sugar is made from?"
"Mainly from beet, tubers of various kinds, such as the common dahlias, and numerous vegetables, from milk, fruit, gum arabic, as well as fish."
"I have heard it said that sugar contains all that is necessary to sustain life. Is that true?"
"That is a mistaken idea. It will sustain life for quite a time and with the addition of nitrogenous matter has great fattening properties, but without that it is not valuable as food."
"What do you mean by nitrogenous matter?"
"Meat, fish, eggs, milk, beans, peas, and the like, all contain a large amount of nitrogen."
"I remember my arm being burned on one occasion, and mother made a syrup out of sugar and put it on. In what way was the sugar beneficial?"