When Sugar Was First Known.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 9, Issue 80, 7 October 1898, Page 2 (Supplement)

When Sugar Was First Known.

The word sugar seems to have been first, used by Pliny, who says that the Romans first became acquainted with it in Arabia. He states that Indian sugar is preferable, and calls it “ honey found in canes.” Lucanus, in his description of India, speaks of sugar, and says that it was much appreciated. Statius, iu his book on “ The Festivals of the December Saturnalia,” pays that among the eatables which the Emperor Donation made the people scramble for, was a substance obtained from the Bleosian cane. Eleosia was a province of Arabia, and the “ food” mentioned was sugar. Dios Koridos writes very innocently about it; he says the name sugar is given to a kind of honey which is found in canes, and is not produced by bees. Strabo writes to the same effect, and adds that when solidified it resembles salt: The sugarcane was first introduced into Sicily In 1148, and soon afterwards- into Spain. About sixty years later the Spaniards introduced it into the Antilles. During the seventeenth century it was cultivated on a large scale by immigrants ; at the end of the ©ighteentli century Jamaica alone was producing about 15,000 tons annually. The foregoing is taken from the “ Manx Sun.”