American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1874-01-24
The Value of a Kernel of Corn.

In considering the curious and interest
ing chemical nature of corn, we shall use
the word as applied to wheat, rs well as
to maize. The two grains are chemically
constituted very much alike, and what
may be said OF one applies with almost
equal truth to the other. Botn are made
up of starch, de1trin, gum, sugar, gluten,
albumen and phosphates of lime, mag
nesia and potassa with silica and iron.
Wheat contains about double the amount
| of lime and iron, anu considerable more
phosphoric acid, BIZ. less magnesia and
soda The maize seeds are rich in
| peculiar kind of oil, which is Dourishing
and highly conducive to the formation
of adipOse or fatty matter; hence, the
high utility Of corn in fatening animals.
What Il remarkable combination of chem
ical substances is stored up in kernel of
| corn? 1t may almost be said To be an
apothecary's shop in miniature; and the
order and arrangements OF the mineral
elements and vegetable compounds, need
ed TO render the comparison more APT, are
not wanting. For some reason, nature
places the most valuable substances in d
| kernel nearest the air and sunlight, while
| the little cells of the interior are full of
| the material used to keep erect and tidy
| orr collars and neck bands--starch-
| viii, n mOistepcd cloth, we can rub
| of FROM the kernel about three ans
ii half per cert. of woody or strawY
material of not much nJ.tritive value; and
| then we come to coating which holds
nearly all the iron, potash, soda, lime,
| phospl;nriC acid and the rich nitrogenous
| ingredients. This wrapper is the store
| house upon whose shelves are deposited
the mineral and vegetable wealth of the
| berry. Whence comes these chemical
agents? By what superlative cunning
| are they GROUPED within the embrace of
| a. Tbnt- nf
from the soil; and by the mysterious and
silent power of vital force, they have been
raised, atom by atom, from their low es-
! tate, and fitted to perform the high Offices
of nutrition in the animal organising
And should we not appropriate them to
our use as the most carefully adjusted OF
all materials designed for human aliments
| Certainly VIC should; but do we? Unfor-
tunately we cannot render an affirmative
answer The sharp teeth of our burr
| mills drive ruthlessly through the rich
| wrappers of the kernel, and then the torn
| fragments pass to the bolt, and from that
| to the barn or stable; the animals obtain
| the nutritious gluten, and the starch, i'll
| the form of fine flour, is set aside for fam
| ily use But it is not designed 10 enlarge
upon this point. Let us look al the chem
| ical offices the substances found in the
kernel of corn sub5erye in the animal
economy.
Starch is the wood or coal which, I'M
der the influence of oxygen, is to be CON
Sumed or burned to maintain animal
| warmth. 1t passes in as pure fuel, ii Is
oxydized and the ashes rejected through
the respiratory organs. The warmth i'm
parted by this combustion is necessary TO
the proper fulfillment of the functions OF
the body. OF these functions, those OF
digestion and assimilation are the most
important. The digestive apparatus re-
tba ul MT and the starch of the
grain; the latter is pushed forward to be
burned, the former enters the circulation;
| and out of its contained iron, potash,
| soda, magnesia, lime, nitrogen, etc, are
| manufactured all the important tissues
and organs of the body. All of the iron
is retained in the blood, together with
much of the soda and phosphoric acid;
the lime goes to the bones, and the mag
nesia very abruptly leaves the body, as 1t
seems to be very plainly told that 1t Is
not wanted. Such in brief, are the uses
which the organic and inorganic consult
uents of a kernel of corn subserve in the
chemistry Of animal life.
The changes which they are made to
undergo in the laboratory are almost
equally interesting and important. fe-
cula, or starch, is body of grea, interest,
and is not found alone in corn. There Is
scarcely ii plant or part of plant which
does not yield more or less OF this
substance. What curious vegetable Is
the potato, Swollen or pulled out by
the enormous distention of the cellular
tissue in which the starch is contained, IL
seems almost ugly in its deformity. 1t
is little less than a mass of starch when
the watery part has been evaporated.
If we separate the starch from the glu-
ten in corn, and boil it few minutes
with weak suIphuric acid, it undergoes
a remaI kable change, and becomes as
fluid and limpid as water; and If we
withdraw the acid, and evaporate to dry
ness we have a new body, IL kind of gum
called dextrin But if we do not inter
rupt the boiling when it becomes thin
and clear, but continue 1t for several
hours, and then withdraw the acid by
chemical means, we have remaining IA
liquid, very sweet to the taste, which
will, if allowed to separate, solidify to a
mass of grape sugar. This is the method
of changing corn into strip and SUI
gar What is most extraordinary in this
process is the fact that the acid under
goes no dimunition or change. The play
of chemical affinities lies between the
amdine and the elements of water, grape
sugar containing more oxygen ana ny
drogen, compared with the quantity OF
carbon, than the starch. Nothing can be
more striking than these changes. From
the kernel of corn we obtain starch, THIS
we change easily into gum, and by the
aid of one of the most powerful ana de-
structive acids, transform it into slrup
and sugar.
We are now to consider another most
extraordinary change which corn is cap
able of undergoing, that OF being trans
formed into whisky or alcohol. II we
take the sweet liquid obtained by tn e IN
fusion of matted corn, and subject it to Il
temperature of 60 or 20 degrees Fab, II
soon becomes turbid or muddy; bubbles
of gas are seen TO rise from all parts oil
the liquid, the temperature rises, and
there are signs of chemical action gong
on in it. After awhile ii slackens, ana
soon stops altogether. Examination
shows that it has now completely lost It's
sweet taste, and acquired another quite
distinct An intoxicating liquid is found,
and if we place ii in a still, we obtain
colorless, intiammable liquid, easily rec
| ognized as alcohol. BY peculiar ar
rangement of the condensing apparatus OF
| the still, a portion of the grain, oils, and
| a large amount of water are allowed TO
go over with the alcohol, and this con-
| stitutes whisky
This is an example of the change called
| vinous fermentation. The influence OF Il
| ferment or decomposing azotiZed body
upon sugar is strange and quite incom-
| prehenslble. Through its agency, we may
| cause the highly organized kernel OF corn
| to take another step downward towards
dead inorganic condition. We can
| transform the alcohol over into acetic acid
3 ha