The elements of sugar are carbon and water, as may be proved by the
following experiment: Put into a glass a table-spoonful of powdered
sugar, and mix it into a thin paste with a little water, and rather
more than its bulk of sulphuric acid; stir the mixture together, the
sugar will soon blacken, froth up, and shoot like a cauliflower out of
the glass: and, during the separation of the charcoal, a large quantity
of steam will also be evolved.