Formation of Fat in the Animal Body. 27 



It must be evident to every unprejudiced person, that the 

 fact mentioned in the preface has no necessary connexion 

 with the discussion, concerning the production of fat, in the 

 work itself, or in the appendix ; it is not employed in the ar- 

 gument. While writing the preface, a friend of mine com- 

 municated to me the result of fattening geese with Indian 

 corn. I found in the Jour, de Chim. Medicale, i. p. 353, 

 an analysis of maize by Lespes, in which no trace of a fatty 

 substance is mentioned. I further found by an examination 

 by Gorham, in the * Quarterly Journ. of Science,' xi. p. 205, 

 that maize contained a particular substance, which he called 

 zein, which was extracted by alcohol and could not be fat, as, 

 on the authority of Gorham, this zein was not miscible with 

 fat oils. Gorham does not mention any fat oil. 



Therefore, according to every fact of which I was aware, 

 maize contained neither fat nor any substance similar to fat. I 

 had not myself at that time entered into any examination of 

 it. The results obtained by MM. Dumas and Payen induced 

 me, however, to undertake an examination of Indian corn, 

 which was grown in my garden. 



67 gram, of maize were exhausted by aether. The aether left 

 behind, on evaporation on the water bath, 2'849 gr. of a thick 

 yellow oil. 



The weight of this oil amounted to 4*25 per cent, of the 

 seed. The difference in this experiment from that of MM. 

 Dumas and Payen is very great ; 9 per cent, is so much that 

 this seed might be used with advantage in the manufacture of 

 oil. I consequently altered the mode of examination by a 

 proceeding which insured a perfect extraction. The seeds were 

 treated with dilute sulphuric acid kept at nearly a boiling heat 

 until they had almost disappeared. The residue was washed, 

 dried and exhausted by aether. 77 grm. produced in this man- 

 ner 3*594' grm. of a substance soluble in aether. Maize grown 

 in the fruitful fields of Giessen, therefore, does not contain more 

 than 4*67 per cent. I found since also an analysis by Bizio 

 (Brugnatelli Giornale, t. xv. pp. 127, 180) which gives for 

 Italian maize 1*475 per cent of fat oil. 



Maize belongs to those seeds which produce a decidedly 

 favourable influence on the formation of fat; some maize con- 

 tains no fat (Lespes, Gorham), some contains above 4 per 

 cent, of oil, and other maize contains 9 per cent, of fatty oil. 

 According to each individual's view, arguments may be drawn 

 from these observations favourable or unfavourable to the for- 

 mation of fat in the animal body ; but as the analysis of the ex- 

 crements of the geese was not made, they cannot be taken into 

 account. 



