Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus c4.s16.8

c4.s16.8

In all the operations of *chunam* work, *jaggery* water, i. e. a solution of molasses or coarse sugar, is invariably added by the builders, and its use appears to have prevailed from the remotest ages. There are various opinions among the modern practitioners regarding its usefulness, but those who have had the most extensive practice in building, hold it as an indispensable ingredient in the formation of a durable and hard cement; and it is stated that the operator evidently perceives the dissolvent property of the *jaggery* water, on its being tempered with the prepared mortar. It is supposed that it tends very much to the intimate union of the coarse particles of the lime with the sharp sand, on account of the saccharine acid in the molasses, and the gaseous principle of its earthy parts, causing a quicker chemical induration of the mortar than would be effected by mere application of pure water conjoined with the absorption of the hardening substance of the atmospheric air.