The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-07 00:00:00

THE TREASURY

The Memorial of the undersigned Inhabitants of the City of
Norwich,
Sheweth,—That your memorialists partake:in the general
alarm excited by the failure of the potato crops, and the
deficiency in the wheat crops, which have occurred simul-
taneously in Great Britain and Irelaud, and in many of the
nations on the Continent of Europe.
That the scarcity and the consequent privation to the poor
throughout her Majesty's domiuions, to be apprehended from
these causes, will be felt with peculiar severity in the city of
Norwich.

That the operatives of this city have just emerged from a
lengthened period of distress, unexampled in the memory of
any living citizen, if not unparalleled in the history of
civilized countries—a distress which, though borne with
patient fortitude, has, in many instances, induced a condition
of slow starvation—a distress which the Poor-law, find the
utmost efforts of private charity, have been found alike
utterly inefficient to relieve—a distress, in the recollection of
which, your memorialists cannot look backward without
affliction ; nor forward, under present circumstances, without
absolute dismay.

That the rate of wages now earned by these operatives, a
rate not likely to be soon raised, and not certain to be long
continued. is but barely sufficient to sustain life ; the impend-
ing advance in the price of food must, therefore, plunge them
during the coming winter into aggravated want. Necessity,
it is said, has no law; the present emergency, as it appears
to your memorialists, calls imperatively for the temporary
suspension of that law which limits the supply of food.
For the sake of warding off, as far as possible, the antici-
pated sufferings of the poor citizens of Norwich, as well as
the distress which is threatened to their fellow-subjects in
Ireland, and in other parts of the empire, your memorialists
entreat her Majesty's Government to suspend, for such time
as they may deem expedient, all DUTIES ON IMPORTED
ARTICLES OF FOOD.

POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.

THE POTATO DISEASE.

Dr. Ryan yesterday gave a lecture at the above institu-
tion on the potato disease. As this subject has become a
matter of great consequence to the whole kingdom, we deem
a notice of a portion of the lecture would be acceptable to
our readers.
The potato owes its nutritious properties to the starch
which it contains. 100 parts of a fresh potato, denuded of its
skin, are composed of—water, from 68 to 72 ; meal, 32 to 28.
The meal consists of—starch, from 15 to 17 ; fibrous matter,
8 to 9 ; mucilage, 5 to 6. To extract the whole of the
starch from 15 to 17 per cent. may be obtained.
The idea of employing starch as an article of food may
appear to many exceedingly strange • but the difficulty will
perhaps disappear when they learn that arrowroot, tapioca,
&c., are merely varieties of starch ; wheat flour, rye, barley,
rice, &c., also contain lai-ge quantities of that substance.
The process of obtaining starch from these substances is
comparatively easy and rapid. Formerly all the starch of
commerce was obtained from wheat flour or meal. That sub-
stance contains a considerable amount of gluten, and to sepa-
rate that entirely from the starch occupied a considerable
period of time—upwards of ten days. First of all, the
wheat and meal had to be kept in cold water until fermenta-
tion set in. This fermentation was allowed to go on to the
acetous stage, in order that the acetic acid formed might dis-
solve the gluten and allow the starch to separate. The starch
was then removed, and washed repeatedly, and passed
through sieves of various degrees of fineness, and this pro-
cess was continued until sufficient purity was obtained.
In obtaining starch from other substances, such as the
potato or the sago plant, the gluten offers no annoyance, as
simple maceration is sufficient. The skin is first removed,
and the potato grated into a pulpy mass; it is then stirred up
in cold water, when everything will dissolve, but the fibrous
matter, the mucilage, will disappear upon washing, and the
fibre is removed by passing through sieves. The starch is
deposited at the bottom of the water, is then dried on stones
or in an oven, and is then fit for use.
When it is intended for immediate use it is not necessary
to dry it, but the addition of boiling water affords a highly
nutritious and palatable food. During the process of wash-
ing the diseased portions are removed. The Learned Doctor
feared that it would be difficult to convince the poor of the
facility with which the process might be done. The Doctor
also stated, although the potato disease was ascribed to a
variety of causes, that which he considered the most probable
was cold and damp, which was quite sufficient to produce
the results discovered in <the tuber. This disease somewhat
resembles that which attacks other plants from long-con-
tinued rains. It is well to know that vegetable matter, in a
state of decomposition, is highly prejudicial to health, and
produces serious epidemics.
The view taken of the potato disease by Dr. Ryan seems to
coincide with that of the Government Commissioners in Ire-
land, who seem to attribute the disease to a sluggish circula-
tion in the plant.