ECONOMY OF NITROGEN. 



179 



for the manufacture of so-called British gum. Of 

 its functions in the sophistication of various ar- 

 ticles of diet this is not the place to treat. In- 

 deed, none of the uses to which starch is put 

 would in the least concern us were it obtainable, 

 or at least were it ordinarily obtained, without 

 the misappropriation of gluten, and the conse- 

 quent waste of combined nitrogen. Unfortunate- 

 ly, the chief materials selected, for the sake of 

 convenience or on account of the quality of the 

 product, by the starch-manufacturer rank among 

 the most important articles of human food, such 

 as wheat, rice, maize, the potato, etc. If the 

 whole of the nitrogenous matters could be sepa- 

 rated out undamaged and in a state fit for human 

 food, or even for the support of cattle, there 

 would be little reason to complain ; but no incon- 

 siderable share of the gluten in the cereals under- 

 goes fermentation, and much of its nitrogen is 

 consequently wasted. Among the tasks which 

 the industrial chemistry of the future will have 

 to master are, therefore, some of the following: 

 The obtaining a sufficient supply of starch 

 from materials either non-nitrogenous or at 

 least not adapted for human food, such as, 

 e. g., the horse-chestnut. 

 Or, if food-materials are still used in the starch- 

 manufacture, the complete utilization of the 

 nitrogenous compounds present. 

 Or, the complete replacement of starch, flour, 

 etc., in textile manufactures, and in calico- 

 printing, by some inorganic substance. 

 Or, the supercession of "thickeners" by some 

 improved method of applying colors — a step 

 which some practical men consider as by no 

 means out of the question. 

 From starch we pass to vinegar. This useful 

 and extensively employed acid contains not a par- 

 ticle of nitrogenous matter, save in the form of 

 impurities, not merely unessential, but damaging 

 to its quality. All that is required for its manu- 

 facture is simply sugar, which is in the first place 

 split up into carbonic acid and alcohol, which lat- 

 ter then undergoes a process of oxidation. If 

 vegetable acids — such as the tartaric, citric, etc. 

 — are present in the raw material, these not only 

 effect an agreeable modification of the flavor, but 

 contribute to the formation of traces of ethereal 

 compounds, of most refreshing odor. This ex- 

 plains the excellence of the wine-vinegars of 

 France, the apple-vinegars of America (which 

 preserve the delightful aroma of ripe apples), and 

 the vinegars occasionally met with in rural dis- 

 tricts in England — made from cane-sugar, fla- 

 vored with the juices of fruits, or even flowers, 



such as the primrose or the cowslip. But the 

 vinegar made for sale in England is unfortunate- 

 ly prepared from a nitrogenous matter, i. e., malt, 

 and we have thus combined nitrogen wasted in 

 obtaining a product which can be procured in 

 far superior quality from non-nitrogenous, or, at 

 least, very sparingly nitrogenous, matter. True 

 economy demands that bodies rich in combined 

 nitrogen should be used for no purpose save 

 where such nitrogen is essential, and should be 

 restricted as far as possible to the production, di- 

 rectly or indirectly, of articles of food and medi- 

 cine. The enunciation of this law brings us into 

 open collision with wide-spread customs. We do 

 not belong to those who pronounce alcohol alto- 

 gether objectionable as an article of diet, and 

 neither by moral suasion nor by legislative inter- 

 ference do we seek to abrogate its use; but as 

 combined nitrogen is not required for the produc- 

 tion of alcohol, we are compelled to include the 

 use of nitrogenous products in the manufacture 

 of alcoholic beverages among instances of that 

 waste which we are explaining and deprecating. 

 The annual amount of malt made in this country 

 is somewhere about 47,000,000 bushels, or, in 

 round numbers, 2,000,000,000 pounds. A very 

 large part of the nitrogen originally present in 

 the grain is wasted. A small quantity is indeed 

 to be found in malt liquors as supplied to the 

 consumer, but too little, generally, to be of ap- 

 preciable dietetic value. The bulk is lost in the 

 various stages of the process. Ilence, from a 

 chemico-economical point of view, the repeal of 

 the malt-tax, or any fiscal measure which shall 

 encourage the application of grain or other high- 

 ly nitrogenous matter to the manufacture of fer- 

 mented or distilled liquors, would be a mistake. 

 Well would it have been if the art of malting had 

 never been invented, and if mankind had been 

 content to procure their alcoholic beverages from 

 fruits and from saccharine juices of comparative- 

 ly low dietetic value, and have kept grain of all 

 kinds for exclusive use as food. 



But there is a use of nitrogenous matter even 

 more palpably and lamentably wasteful than the 

 manufactures of starch, of gum-substitutes, of 

 vinegar, alcohol, etc., from grain. Indian corn 

 is actually to some extent used as fuel — a misap- 

 propriation rendered more feasible by the pro- 

 portion of oily matter which it contains. That 

 under such circumstances the bulk of its nitrogen 

 will be wasted, by escaping in a free state, ad- 

 mits of no doubt. 



Nitrogenous matter of animal origin is per- 

 haps less systematically wasted than is the gluten 



