Omaha daily bee., 1899-06-25

Conscences with some such reassurng
thought that the adulterant is not only not
poisonous, but uninjurious in its elements,
and yet they are guilty OF the most despica-
BILE piece Of robbery known since meanness
began. and those who eat it to the extent
that the laboring men Of the United States
eat bread simply enter upon a certain, and
not so very prolonged, period OF starvation.
But first, word or two as to this adultera-
tion and how the scientific men are discover
ing it-how they are working to render such
adulteration as this in the future practical
impossbility
The starch OF the -four Of every wheat
berry and every corn kernel differ always
and essentially as they come under the
microscope. Take a sample of honest flour
and you will find every tiny grain to the
last hundredth that comes into your field OF
vision as you move the slide below the fens,
roundish in shape, every one OF them II
cut in twain showing series OF con-
centric circles and a transverse section in
dicating the general form of a pair OF dumb
bells.
When the corn starch, like the wheat
starch has been washed clear Of all other
elements, every grain. to the fartherest
milionth instead OF being round, is angular.
full of corners the fiat body of the grain
usually showing from five to six sharp
angles In the center Of the grain the lines
are not circular, as in the wheat, but
straight starting from a well-defned spot
in the heart of the grain of starch and
radiating out in perfectly straight lines,
from three to five or six lines in each grain.
Each one OF these grains is inclosed in
wall of cellulose The character of the
starch on the interior of each Is precisely
the same. whether of corn or wheat. In the
h1G Of
It to man in the wheat kernel there is just
the right proportion of starch for the needs
of the human system mixed with other
ingredients which go to give the system its
strength
why AduItcrntion Pays.
When the men who want to adulterate
their -four find that wheat costs 81 and corn
% cents a bushel 1t Is very natural thing
following the bent of a crooked mind, TO
mix the corn starch with the -four starch
The two are of precisely the same character
as to appearance, etc.
But the detective is there too and, aided
by that chief of all detectives, Mother
Nature the scientific chemist takes the
adulterated flour, washes it in cold water
SO that every part OF the gluten of the flour
is cleared out and then, placing tiny
portion of the flour or, as it now stands,
q
tlon. colors It with iodine a beautiful purple,
nuts drop between the thin pieces OF glass
for his slide tuCks 1t under the microscope
and there swimming together side by side
as purple as a sunset in the land OF the
midnight sun. are the two types OF starch
grains hundreds of them, the one round,
the other angular, the one having con-
centric rings on its interior, the other with
lines as Jagged as the greenish radiations
from fractured pane of glass
II isn't a question OF theory but one OF
very cold, hard fact. The scientific chemist
especially the agricultural chemist such a
one as prof Harry Snyder OF the state ex-
perlment station OF the College of Agri'
culture In the university OF Minnesota
doesn't have to depend upon any theories
He takes a sample of perfectly pure wheat
-four. tests IT, hnds the grains OF starch OF
the one type He takes a sample OF pure
corn starch -four, the grains are all OF one
type and wholly different. He takes a
sample Of -four adulterated with corn starch
and the two types appear. There is moth
ing left to chance.
But the adulterator knows his business
He has invented machinery which so rolls
and powders the corn starch that in some
cases the cell walls are broken down anC
the corn starch blends into the wheat ioul
starch. This would seem TO be blending
beyond the power OF a detective. But ii /!
not Prof Snyder has been carrying on ex
perlments which show that ne will in th'
duture-and, in fact, has already reachet
some decidedly satisfactory results-be abl
10 detect the fraud even here, for by al
iodine test he can tell the difference be
tween -four composed OF mixed corn ant
wheat starch grains even after the cell wall
OF the grains are broken down. BY far III
greater proportion OF all the adulteration
however, is quickly discernihle by the othe
test.
L. AduItcratcd Flour HARMFUL
good many people have asked this ques