The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-01 00:00:00

THE POTATO, ITS HISTORY AND
CHEMICAL 'COMPOSITION.-
MANUFACTURE OF POTATO STARCH.
(From the Northern Whig.) •
As, at the present time, anything connected with the
potato excites general attention, it may be interesting to
bring before the public some notices of its history. A native
of the mountainous parts of Chili and Peru, in South
America, and, also, according to some late authorities, of the
Pic de Illrizaba, in the Mexican territory, this now so valuable
plant appears to have been first brought to Europe by the
Spaniards, from the mountains near the city of Quito, about
the beginning of the 16th century. From 'Spain, it has-been
traced to Italy, where it was cultivated as food both for man
and animals. Into Germany, we learn from the botanist ali-
gns, the first writer in whose works any mention"of it ap-
pears, that it was introduced by a person connected with the
suite of the Papal Ambassador at Vienna about the year
1598 ; and that, in a short time after that, it was exten-
sively diffused through the Germanic empire. Thus it
seems that Ireland, though at the present time the chief
nursery of the potato; was not the first to receive it;
1584, the adventurous Raleigh, returning from his voyage*
Virginia, brought with him some seeds of the plant; At
placed them in his garden, at Youghal, in the county of
Cork. It is related that the seeds flourished, and that Sir
Walter, having sent for some of the produce, his gardener
brought to him the small apples produced upon the stem,
upon which he imagined that the seeds which he had brought
home were not those of the plant which he had seen growing
in America, and directed the man to root it up; but when
he proceeded to tear it away, some of the tubers came up
with the roots, and Sir Walter at once recognised the valua-
ble fruit which he had eaten in his travels. Gerard, the old
English herbalist, whose quaint history of plants appeared
in 1597, gives a description of potatoes, a specimen of which
he bad received from America, under the name of Virginia
Potatoes—a name which they had received to distinguish
them from the sweet potatoes, the produce of an entirely
different plant, which had been, long before that time, ex-
tensively used in England. These sweet potatoes are
alluded to by Shakspeare, when, in The Merry Wires of
Windsor, he makes his valiant Sir John exclaim, " Let the
sky rain potatoes." Old Gerard recommends the potato as a
delicate dish, but net as an article of food, for common
use. "It is, he says, "an excellent thing for making sweet
sauces, and also to be eaten with-sops and wine." Indeed, their
price in the reign of the first James was so high—two shil-
lings the pound—that they could be introduced only at the
tables of the rich. • The first extensive supply which Eng-
land received was from an Irish vessel, wrecked with a cargo,
on a part of the coast of Lancashire, called North Meols,
about 1605 ; but for many years their cultivation was con-
fined to the gardens in the neighbourhood of London. In
1663, the attention of the members of the Royal Society of
London was directed to the importance of cultivating the
plant extensively over the kingdom, for the prevention of
famine ; but, notwithstanding their recommendation, very
few persons were induced to grow it; and even some writers,
of a later date, as Evelyn, in 1f.89, seemed to have been pre-
judiced against it. In fact, we do not find its value ap-
preciated before 1790, in year it appears, for the
first time, to have been cultivated, to any extent, in the
open fields. It is remarked that Scotland, which, at pre-
sent, takes the lead in agricultural improvement, should be
among the last of the European Kingdoms to avail itself of
this important vegetable—its introduction into that country
being delayed until 1739 ; and, even then, religious, or,
rather, an irreligious bigotry, opposed itself to its use as an
article of food, and stirred up the people to reject it with
abhorrence, because it was not mentioned in the Bible !
In France, its use, as an article of diet, was, also, but for
different reasons, strongly opposed, and its cultivation con-
demned by many who considered themselves men of judg-
ment; but, through the zealous efforts of a chemist—M.
Parmentier—who had the sagacity to perceive its value, it
was finally established in public estimation. One of the expe-
dients adopted by Parmentier to overcome the prejudices
of those who obstinately opposed its use, is interesting and
instructive, and might, occasionally, be advantageously
copied in our own times, as it is a good example of the pro-
per way of treating those who differ from us. He invited all
who scoffed at, and all who opposed, the potato cultivation
to a sumptuous dinner, at which he gave them nothing either
to eat or drink but what had been prepared from the potato.
We have, as might be expected, had a great many inves-
tigations of the chemical composition of the potato. M.
Parmentier, to whose enthusiastic advocacy of its value, in
France, I have above alluded, published an elaborate trea-
ties on its culture and chemical properties, in 1776 ; and, a
great many years ago, Dr. Pearson presented the English
Board of Agriculture with an essay on the same subject.
The leading constituents of the potato tuber are the same
which we find in the grain of wheat—viz., water, starch,
starchy fibre, gum, sugar, albumen, and salts. The follow-
ing analysis of Michael's, published in 1837, will give an
exact idea of its per-centage composition :
Starch and starchy fibrin ...... ....... 30.469
Albumen _ .503
Gluten .055
Fat .056
Gam ...... ......... .020
Asparagin
Extractive - •
Citrates, silicates, and. phosphates of potash,
soda, lime, magnesia, alumina, and pro-
toxide of iron and maganese .815
Chloride of potassium
Free citric acid
Water N 66.875

100.000
It would occupy too much space to enter, at greater length,
into the chemical history of the potato. I may, however,
remark, that it belongs to the same family of plants of which
the deadly nightshade is a member, and that it has been
discovered to contain a small quantity of the same poisonous
principle which exists in that plant, termed solanin. The
principle is, however',' fortunately, removed, in cooking. I
had resolved, in the present paper, to consider the value
which science shews us should be attached to the chief con-
stituent of the
_potato tuber—its starch in the nutrition of
the body; but I have, within these few days, received so
many communications from parties anxious to obtain infor-
mation respecting the manufacture of that article, as a means
of enabling them to convert their crop into a form which
will resist decomposition, that it will be more advantageous
to give a description of the simple apparatus required for that
purpose.
The potato tuber, when examined by the aid of the micro-
scope, is found to consist of small cells, in which the sub-
stance, which we term starch, is contained. This substance
does not, however, appear equally distributed over every
part of the tuber; when we examine a slice of the potato,
the starch is found in greatest quantity near its exterior,
while the centre contains so little of it, that it is almost
transparent. When a potato is grated upon any kind of
grater, its cells are torn in pieces, and the little grains of
starch which they contain liberated. These grains are ex-
ceedingly small—indeed, not larger than the two hundred
and fiftieth part of an inch in diameter ; so that, if we place
the pulpy mass, consisting of the broken cells and the libe-
rated starch, upon a hair sieve, placed over a pan, and water
it from a watering-pot, so long as the water which rims
through has a milky colour, we will find that all the starch
will be washed through the sieve, and that it will be deposited,
in the form of a fine white powder, at the bottom of the pan.
It is truly a most fortunate circumstance for the potato
cultivator, that microscopic examination shows the starch
contained in potatoes affected with the prevailing disease
to be perfectly uninjured, even when the tissue of which the
cells are formed was quite brown, and its smell most dis-
agreeable. I would, therefore, earnestly advise our farmers,
at once, to convert their diseased crop into farina; or, in
cases where the disease has only commenced, into the more
nutritious and easily-prepared potato meal, as practised on
the Continent.
The process, which I have described above, represents the
preparation of starch in its most simple form ; but it is
obvious that, in the present circumstances of the potato crop,
in this country, the farmer must have recourse to a less
troublesome and more expeditious method. The manufac-
ture on the large scale, however, presents no difficulty, the
essential operations in the process for preparing a ton of
starch being precisely the same as those employed in making
a few ounces with the cottage grater; the main requisites to
the perfection of the work being extreme attention to clean-
liness, in all its parts, and an abundant supply of pure water.
The operations required in the manufacture may be conve-
niently considered under five heads
Ist. The washing of the potatoes.
2d. The grinding, or rasping of the potatoes.
3d. The washing of the starch from the pulp.
4th. The washing and purification of the starch
sth. The drying.
1. Suppose a farmer wishes to convert the half-rotten
portion of his crop into starch, he must, in the first place,
carefully wash the potatoes, so as to remove all adherent
soil, &c., in the common potato-washer of the farm, or in any
convenient way. In large manufacturing establishments they
are placed in a cylindrical cage or wooden puncheon, bored
with holes, which is made to revolve in a trough filled with
water, and into which a current of water flows, from a cis-
tern or mill stream. When thoroughly washed, the potatoes
are to be removed to the rasping machine.
2. The object of rasping or grinding the potato is, as I
have already explained, to break up its cells, so as to libe-
rate their contained starch. It will, therefore, be obvious,
that the more effectually this be accomplished—the more
perfectly the fibre be reduced to a fine pulp—the greater
will be the quantity of starch produced. The rasping ma-
chine usually employed, and which will be most conveniently
prepared for the purposes of the farmer, consists of a
wooden cylinder or drum, about 2 feet long and 14 feet in
diameter, covered on its circumference with sheet iron,
converted into a rasp, by being punched with holes from the
opposite side. The potatoes are supplied from a hopper, like
that of a common mill, placed above the rasp, and with its
bottom nearly in contact with it. In Germany, in the small
manufactories, a machine is employed both for rasping po-
tatoes for starch and beet, for the preparation of sugar, nearly
similar to that just described, but constructed of cast iron,
and armed with saw teetb. During the rasping, to prevent
clogging, a small stream of water, from a cistern, is made to
drop from a tube, perforated with holes, placed over the
drum. The rasping machine may easily be worked by a
horse; but it will be more advantageous, when local circum-
stances render it possible, to connect both the washing and
rasping machines with a water-wheel.
3. Under the rasping machine must be placed a convenient
wooden tub or vat, covered with a fine hair or wire-web
sieve, and so arranged, that a pipe, conveying water from the
cistern, may discharge itself over it. Upon this sieve, the
pulp, consisting of the cellular tissue of the broken-up
potatoes, is caught ; while the fine grains, liberated from
these cells, are washed through by the current of water, and
deposited at the bottom of the tub. When this tub is full,
it is either removed, and another substituted, or the starch is
stirred up with the water, and run off, by means of a trough,
into large wooden vessels, where it is washed and purified.
4. In the purifying vats, the particles of starch gradually
deposit themselves from the water ; and, if this deposit be
examined, it will be found to consist of two layers, that at the
bottom of the vessel being composed of white shining grains ,
of pure starch ; white, on the top, we will have the starch
rendered impure and dirty-looking, from containing bits of
fibre not removed by the sieve, flakes of albuminous matter,
&c. In the water, covering the starch, will be found all the
soluble ingredient of the potato. To remove these impurities,
it will be necessary, in the first place, by means of a plug-
hole in the vat, to draw off the discoloured water ; after
which, the vat should be again filled with pure water, the
starch stirred up through it, and the milky liquid, if a par-
ticularly nice article be required, passed again through the
sieve. This additional operation is, however, but seldom ne-
cessary ; as, by mixing the starch with clean water, two or
three times, and drawing the water off, if impure, the starch
will, in general, be deposited of a good colour. It has been
suggested to wash the starch with water containing a little
chlorine, but we cannot expect our farmers to attend to this
direction ; indeed, it is only required by the large manufac-
turer, who wishes to send his starch into the market as a
substitute for " tine Jamaica arrowroot."
_ _ _

5. Having prepared the starch, as I have described, the
next matter for us to consider is, the beet method of drying
it. On this subject I have received several communications
from farmers, who imagined that it would be impossibl;, in a
farm establishment, to contrive any proper arrangement for
this purpose. When the quantity prepared is not very great,
it may, without difficulty, be rendered sufficiently dry, by
placing it in shallow wooden trays, supported on shelves in a
room heated by a stove; but, when the manufacture is con-
ducted on a larger scale, it Nvill be the intireat of the wax

to construct a proper drying chamber, heated by a stove the
funnel of which should be made to pass in several directions:
round the walls, upon which sliould.be fixed shelves, for sup-
porting drying trays. On the Continent, where this manu-
facture has been carried to great perfection; the starch, when
removed-from the vats; is placed upon a floor, constructed
either of half-burned porous tiles, or well dried plaster, which
dries it with great rapidity, by absorbing its moisture. It is,
indeed, for many purposes, not necessary, to dry the starch
completely, as it will keep well, even when it contains a large
amount of water; and, in France, where it is extensively
employed for the preparation of sugar, it is frequently sold as
" green starch," containing 30 per cent. of water. I must,
for the present, postpone my observations on the different
forms in which the potato may be preserved for food. &c., as
this notice has extended to so great a length. The g reat im-
portance of the subject, and interest which it now excites,
will, I trust, however, prove a sufficient excuse.
JOHN F. HODGES, M.D.
Downpatrick, October 22, 1845.

THE POTATO MURRAIN.
(From the Medical Times.)
Our leader of last week, it will be remembered, had refer-
ence to the damaged state of the present crop of potatoes.
We enumerated with some care, and not a little curiosity, all
the learned_ opinions which have been lavished upon this
common-place subject, and, after discarding such sublimities
as we had no occasion for, came to the unpretending conclu-
sion that the potatoes are rotten I
Whether the potatoes complained of be really rotten, as we
say, or in a " morbid state," as some other people say, has
little to do with two questions naturally arising out of the
circumstance, viz., are these potatoes fit to be eaten, and
what are the poor to do without them? The former is espe-
cially a query for ourselves to answer; the latter rather be-
longs to Ministers of State, political economists, and parish
guardians.
That potatoes in their present bad condition are totally
unfit for food, might almost be assumed a priori. It is well
known that vegetable matter in a state of putresence, either
commencing or confirmed, is not only for the most part in-
nutritive, but .is also capable of irritating the alimentary
organs, and even of poisoning the system. " Sprouted
wheat," as the farmers term it, never bakes into spongy,
substantial bread, but remains "sad," soft, and nauseously
sweet. The refermentation which bread undergoes when
kept in a warm,, damp atmosphere, and which is succeeded
by "ropiness," as it is called, is an approach to the same con-
dition. Either is unfit for food, and serious mischief has
often been known to follow its use. History is familiar with
instances of epidemics consequent upon eating the unsound
cora grown during wet and cloudy seasons. One of the most
figurative adventures in the classical writings is amongst the
earliest references to this well-known fact. The most an-
cient plague mentioned by profane authors occurred during
the sovereignty of King .6..thamas ; it desolated Thebes,
and was the occasion of the Argonautic expedition for ob-
taining the Golden Fleece and consulting the oracle at Col-
chi& That plague is said to have been occasioned by the
wrath of Imo, who, to revenge herself on Nephele, produced
the pestilence of poisoning all the grain which had been sown
in the earth. It is not necessary to inform the classical
reader that Nephele signifies a "cloud," and that hence, as an
old scholastic observes, in this tradition of a universal ma-
lady is shadowed forth the vitiation of grain by means of
clouds, showers, and inclement seasons, as well as in the same
legend are detailed the terrible effects which grain so dis-
tempered is capable of producing. We learn from Proco-
pius (Persia. lib. ii., cap. 22), that during the reign of Justi-
nian a fearful pestilence swept through a vast portion of the
Roman empire, and seemed to be referrible to no cause ex-
cept the use of unsound grain. When Cresar besieged Mar-
seilles, a pestilence prevailed, and affected his whole army,
and was supposed to be owing to a bad kind of farinaceous
food. "Panico enirn retere, atque hordeo corrupto, omnes
(Scil Massiliences) alebantur," !ire.. (De Bello Civili., lib. ii.
22). In 1529 an epidemic disease spread throughout Nor-
way, Denmark, Holland, and Flanders, and appeared at Ham-
burg, Bremen, Lubeck, Dantzic, and Cologne. In those dis-
tricts birds were frequently seen to fall dead from the trees,
and were found to have small abscesses about them, espe-
cially under their wings, and Schiller (de Peste Britannica)
attributed all these things to a moist cloudy state of the at-
mosphere long prevalent; but other more accurate observers
referred them to the use of impoverished and rotten grain
(Schenck. Obs) p.., 764). The pestilential disease which ra-
vished Messina in 1554, so well described by G. Agricola
(apud Schenck., p. 764), seemed to be for the most part at-
tributable to the use of deteriorated farinacea. Forestus im-
putes the plague which appeared at Delft in the year 1557
io the eating of mouldy grain which had long been kept up
by the merchants in a time of scarcity. At the same time
a similar disease prevailed in Spain ; many died of it, and
their bodies were found covered with purple spots. Coinci-
dent with this visitation was a rotten and mouldy state of
the grain, the consequence of a cloudy wad very wet summer
(see De Thou's " History of his own Times," vol. 2.) Sir John
Pringle remarks that he has heard of dysenteric affections
being frequent among the common people on the Continent,
who chiefly live on grain, and that these affections are especi-
ally prevalent when the crops are found to have been injured
by wet and cloudy weather. An epidemic fever, described
by Silvius de la Boe, raged at Leyden in 1669, and was gene-
rally attributed to the unsound vegetable food. In 1690 the
summer was very rainy and hot in Italy, and most of the
crops were rotten or mildewed. In the year following, when
this grain was eaten, a general and fatal epidemic prevailed
(Webster on "Epidemic Diseases," vol. i., p. 332). In 1693,
the corn in various places was gathered in an unripe or rotten
state, and, subsequently, those places were visited by putrid
fevers and dysenteries—wounds degenerated into ulcers, blis-
ters were followed by mortifications (Webster, op. cit).
In the description given by Gregorius Horstius of a fatal
epidemic, the malady is chiefly attributed to the use of a bad
farinaceous food. " Causes hujus affectus quod attinet, ex
cegrotantium relatione scire licet, quod externa cause com-
muniter in aliment°, ad nutriendum minus idoneo et impro •
portionato, consistat dum pauperis rebus ad vitam necessariis
destituti, panem impurum et male coctum longo tempo dem-
pore in summa famis urgentia, devorant," &c.—(Greg. Horst.
op. vol. ii., lib. 8.) A similar report upon this epidemic is
made by Sennertus in his chapter, "De febre malign cum
spasm,: In 1816, the crops in this country were seriously
injared by the profuse rains which fell, and, subsequently,
when the grain was made use of, dysentery. and typhus fever
became prevalent. In the following year, in consequence of
the heavy rains which fell between the months of January
and March, most of the crops in Bengal were vitiated ; and
shortly after this, and seemingly as an effect of it, came the
cholera. And the laborious train of investigation pursued by
Dr. Tytler, renders it more than probable that fatal disease
owed its eastern origin and progress mainly to the use of de-
teriorated grain, chiefly rice. (See Tytler on the Morbus
Oryzeus, passim.) Dr. Tytler fed a healthy younggoat
with Ouse rice ; it caused a diminution of appetite, excessive
thirst, weakness, stupidity, watery eyes, and apparent suf-
fering. The animal died in forty-two_ hours from the com-
mencement of the experiment. The only morbid appearance
of moment was an " erythematic inflammation," extending
from the stomoch to the intestines. In several instances
mentioned by Dr. Tytler, the effects of this rice upon the
human subject were very serious. (Op. cit. p. 10.) Some
very remarkable cases in proof of the bad effects of unsound
grain taken as food are recorded in the Philosophical Trans-
actions, Nos. 83, 84, 85, and 98 ; and in Med. Museum, tom.
ii., p. 441 The particulars are briefly these :—ln 1762, J.
Downing, his wife, and six children, residing at the village
of Watishara, were seized with violent pains m the feet, legs,
and thighs, the other parts not suffering materially. The
affected limbs grew black, gangrenous, and fell "off. The
father, most triflingly attacked, was fortunate enough not to
lose a limb. A. child, four months old, died before any of
the members separated. The mother, three girls, and two
boys lost, collectively, seven legs and four feet. The Rev.
Mr. Bones, minister of the parish, in answer to questions put
by Dr. Baker, states that they made their bread, the summer
before, of what is called clog wheat. The grain was da-
maged; it had been laid, gathered, and thrashed separately ;
it was not mildewed or grown, but discoloured, and smaller
than the rest. It made bad bread and worse puddings. We
have not space to go further into detail, or we could give
many more examples derived from history, and some from
personal observation, of the baneful or fatal consequences
which have followed the alimentary use of unsound grain.
Ex uno disce omnes—others of the farinacea, similarly dis-
eased or rotten, would be likely, if taken as food, to be pro-
ductive of equally, bad effects. Hence, as we said at the
outset, we might a priori assume that the present dete-
riorated potatoes would not only furnish little nutriment, but
might be actually poisonous to these who partook of them.
The assumption would be perfectly logical, and we should be
as perfectly justified in making it, did we not prefer the ci
posteriori argument as being more in accordance with the
matter-of-fact subject of which we are treating. And it is
one not to be disregarded or trifled with ; calamitous conse-
quences may, and most likely will, follow the eating of these
corrupted
.potatoes ; already, indeed, they have begun the
work of mischief; and it behoves the profession to consider
well the circUmEtances. What further we have to say upon
these will be continued in our next article.

THE MORMONS.
(From the New York Journal of Commerce.)
Everybody will inquire for the causes of the exasperation
which exists against the Mormons, and none of the Western
papers furnish an answer to the inquiry. We can see one
feature in their mode of operation which is calculated
to produce general opposition—it is their mixing their
religion with politics. They combine upon their sec-
tarian affinities, and go to the polls as Mormons.
They constitute a majority in the county, and so we
see that Backenstoss, the sheriff, is a Mormon. The
judges of the local courts are also Mormons, and the laws
are administered according to Mormon principles. As the
Mormons adopt the notion, not peculiar to them, that theirs
is the 'only true church—that they are the saints, and all
others the enemies of God—they come very readily to the
same conclusion which Rome made from these premises,
that it is right to join with God in punishing His
enemies; and that so, to lie to heretics, to cheat them,
steal from and rob and even kill them, when the good of
the Church would be promoted by it, was only doing God
service. In Mormon courts it has been quite out of the
question to get anything like justice in cases between the
true Church and the Dissenters. A letter from a gentleman
in the neighbourhood, whom we know, states the fol-
lowing incident :—" A farmer had a very fine horse. It was
stolen, and taken into Nauvoo. The farmer hired a
neighbour's horse, and went to Nauvoo in pursuit.
Finding his horse, he appealed to the laws for redress.
But, instead of having his property restored, the Mormon
court accused him of stealing the horse he rode, took it from
him, fined him ten dollars for contempt of court because he
dared to protest against this villany, and so sent him away."
The same letter says that when the Mormons have wished to
buy farms in their neighbourhood, they have stolen the pro-
perty of the owner, and even set fire to his buildings, and by
vexations for which there was no redress, compelled him to
sell out on any terms which the Mormons chose to prescribe.
Such a community would of course draw to itself the thieves
and banditti of the country, and arouse the indigna-
tion of honest men. It is however not improbable that
the Mormons are often 'misrepresented, and that their con-
duct is less flagrant than rumour proclaims it to be.
In the West, among the pioneer settlements, there will
now and then be combinations formed among villains to put
down the laws. These combinations are too strong for indi-
viduals. At Vicksburg, for instance, any citizen, judge
or sheriff; who dared to enforce the laws against
them, only sounded the note of his own assassination. If
there is a -Government of any sort which authorises revolu-
tion, it is such an one as this. We do not say that the Mor-
mon fraternity is such a combination ; though we are afraid
it comes pretty near it,

. CHINESE FILTBRING.—The waters of the Wangho
and Yang-tee-kiang are highly surcharged with mud, the
former containing one-seventeenth part, and the latter one-
ninety-sixth of earth. This renders them both unpleasant
and unwholesome to drink; and to it may possibly be attri-
buted a portion of the sickness we sustained. The Chinese
have adopted a very simple remedy for this evil, one far
simpler and equally efficacious with our filter, but which, Un-
fortunately, was not discovered until we wore leaving the
river, but which it will behove any one who may chance to
visit muddy streams to remember. Into about a quart of
water they throw a small pinch of alum, leaving it to stand
a few minutes; it becomes as clear as crystal, a considerable
sediment being. found at the bottom. Not even the poorest
fisherman hut is always provided with a small portion for
this necessary purpose.—. Cunningham's Sigyice in China.