Sugar was introduced in Egypt by the Moslems when they conquered the country, 640-646 A. D., and the Egyptians were quick to apply their knowledge of chemistry to its preparation. By remelting the first crystals, then treating the liquor with lime and albumen, removing the suspended impurities by filtration, boiling to grain once more and purging the crystals of their syrup by washing, they succeeded in making a sugar far superior to that produced elsewhere. The cultivation of cane prospered and the excellence of the sugar manufactured in Egypt was maintained throughout the Middle Ages, until the conquest by the Turks in 1517. Ottoman dominion ruined Egypt industrially. A little sugar cane continued to be raised and some sugar was made, but on so unimportant a scale as to be hardly deserving of mention. This state of affairs lasted until 1850, when Ismail Pasha (afterward khedive, 1863-79,) caused sugar cane to be brought from Jamaica and five years later the government took steps to foster sugar manufacture. In 1877 a change came about, through which the control of the factories passed from the hands of the khedive to a government committee, under whose auspices several new mills were constructed. In 1896 the output of sugar reached 75,000 tons. The factories operated by the government body were sold in 1903 to a French corporation, known as the “Société Générale des Sucreries d’Egypte,” which some years previous had built three factories of its own. By this purchase the French company practically obtained a monopoly of the sugar business of the country. The financial crisis of 1905 proved a setback, but after the trouble arising from this had passed, the company formulated plans for enlarging its plantations and grinding an increased amount of cane. Sugar cane is grown along the Nile banks from a short distance above Cairo up to Assuan, or between 24 degrees and 30 degrees north latitude, a stretch of more than four hundred miles. In width, however, this territory is confined to the valley of the Nile, which is only twelve miles wide at the extreme and narrowing to very much less. The agricultural possibilities of the eastern or right bank are not so great as those of the left, owing to the fact that it is mountainous in many places. Consequently most of the cane and all of the sugar factories are to be found on the left (western) bank.