slices increasingly rich in juice, and acquiring density in its progress. Before entering the last cylinder the solution is heated, and the richly charged fluid is sent forward to the carbonation tanks. This process of saturation consists in the treatment of the diffusion juices with lime and carbonic acid, whereby the non-saccharine substances are precipitated and partly decomposed,
Fig. 8.—Vacuum Strike-Pan, Vertical Section (Maumené).
the sugar remaining unaltered in solution. These foreign or non-saccharine substances, which are present in the juice in consider-able proportions, would interfere with the crystallization of the sugar.
The carbonic-acid gas is generated in a lime-kiln. Fig. 7, which consists of a hollow circular chamber of incombustible material provided with furnaces and delivery apertures, and is generally placed in the open air in the factory yard. The lime and carbonic--
