718 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the leaves to that in the underground stem something may be said 

 hiter in this paper. 



In the corn plant the starch is stored chiefly in the grain, and 

 not in the subterranean portions, as in the potato. The granules 

 of the corn starch are much smaller than those of the potato, as 

 indicated by Fig. 2, which is from a camera drawing of a cell from 

 a grain of corn and made to the same scale as Fig. 1. The granules 

 are oval and not much marked with striae or lines, but chemically 

 the substance is the same in both cases. 



Another leading starch is that of wheat, the form of the grains 

 of which is shown in Fig. 3. "While somewhat larger than the 

 corn-starch granules, they are not otherwise widely different. 



One could scarcely overlook the starch produced b}-^ the rice 

 plant, for it feeds more people than the potato, corn, or wheat. 

 The relative size and form of the rice-starch granules are shown in 



/ 



o / 



Fig. 3. — Staucii Granvles of Wheat. 



Fig. 4.— Starch Granules of Rice. 



Fig. 4. It is seen that the grains are not large, and with a strong 

 tendency to break up into small angular pieces. 



There are almost as many forms of starch as plants producing 

 it, some of them being very odd in shape. Thus the tapioca starch 

 has a characteristic form, as also the sago; but it is not the pur- 

 pose here to more than call attention to the form in which the sub- 

 stance under consideration is laid down in plants. The student 

 of food adulterations is an expert in the detection of starches, and, 

 with his microscope and skill, is able to decide how much of one 

 kind of starch and how much of another is offered in the product 

 under examination. It is a matter of congratulation that Nature 

 has set herself so strongly against fraud in food stuffs as to record 

 the origin of each grain of starch in the grain itself. 



And that brings us to a consideration of that origin. We must 

 accord to plants the exalted prerogative of being the exclusive and 

 universal starch-formers in the world. Whether we note the 



