Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SUG'AR, n. [shug'ar; Fr. sucre; Ann. sucr; Sp. azucar; It. zucchero; G. zucker; D. suiker; Dan. sokker, sukker; Sw. socker; W. sugyr; Ir. siacra; L. saccharum; Gr. σακχαρον; Pers. Ar. سُكَّرْ sukkar; Sans. scharkara; Slavonic, zakar. It is also in the Syr. and Eth.]

1. A well known substance manufactured chiefly from sugar-cane, Saccharum officinarum; but in the United States, great quantities of this article are made from sugar maple; and in France, from the beet. The saccharine liquor is concentrated by boiling, which expels the water; lime is added to neutralize the acid that is usually present; the grosser impurities rise to the surface, and are separated in the form of scum; and finally as the liquor cools, the sugar separates from the melasses in grains. The sirup or melasses is drained off, leaving the sugar in the state known in commerce by the name of raw or muscovado sugar. This is further purified by means of clay, or more extensively by bullocks' blood, which forming a coagulum, envelops the impurities. Thus clarified, it takes the names of lump, loaf, refined, &c. according to the different degrees of purification. Sugar is a proximate element of the vegetable kingdom, and is found in most ripe fruits, and many farinaceous roots. By fermentation, sugar is converted into alcohol, and hence forms the basis of those substances which are used for making intoxicating liquors, as melasses, grapes, apples, malt, &c. The ultimate elements of sugar are oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. Of all vegetable principles, it is considered by Dr. Rush as the most wholesome and nutritious.
2. An old chimical term; as, the sugar of lead, so called because it has a close resemblance to sugar in appearance, and tastes sweet. Sugar of lead, acetate of lead.