_Cane Sugar_ (C_{12} H_{22} O_{11}).--Among the more important chemical properties of cane sugar are the following:--It dissolves in about one-third its weight of cold water--much more readily in hot water--and is insoluble in cold absolute alcohol. From a concentrated aqueous solution it is deposited in monoclinic prisms, which possess a specific gravity of 1·580. Cane sugar is characterised by its property of rotating the plane of a ray of polarised light to the right; the rotary power is 66°·6. Upon heating its solution with dilute mineral acids, it is converted into a mixture termed “invert sugar,” which consists of equal parts of _dextrose_ and _levulose_. The former turns the plane of polarised light to the right, the latter to the left; but owing to the stronger rotation exerted by the levulose, the combined rotary effect of invert sugar is to the left, _i. e._, opposite to that possessed by cane sugar. Invert sugar exhibits the important property of reducing solutions of the salts of copper, which is not possessed by pure cane sugar. Cane sugar melts at 160°; at a higher temperature (210°) it is converted into a reddish-brown substance termed _caramel_. When subjected to the action of ferments, cane sugar is first transformed into invert sugar, then into alcohol and carbonic acid, according to the reactions:-- (_a_) C_{12} H_{22} O_{11} + H_{2}O = 2 C_{6} H_{12} O_{6}. (_b_) C_{6} H_{12} O_{6} = 2 CO_{2} + 2 C_{2} H_{6}O. The varieties of cane sugar usually met with in commerce are the following:-- 1. Loaf sugar, consisting either of irregular fragments, or (more often) of cut cubes. 2. Granulated sugar. 3. Soft white sugar. 4. Brown sugar, varying in colour from cream-yellow to reddish-brown. Molasses is a solution of sugar, containing invert sugar, gummy matters, caramel, etc., which forms the mother-liquor remaining after the crystallisation of raw cane sugar; the name “syrup” being commonly applied to the residual liquor obtained in the manufacture of refined sugar.