235 



Situated in the end of the berry, opposite tlie fuzz end, is the 

 germ with its shield furnished with small straight tubes through which 

 it absorbs tlie fluid starcJi. The germ contains fatty matter and it is 

 stated that one pound of oil can be extracted from 100 pounds of germ. 

 The miller therefore carefully excludes from the flour, the bran with its 

 ferment and the germ with its oil, for were these allovved to rem.ain in 

 the flour it would not keep but would spoil in a short time. This 

 ferment in the bran is the cause of the miller's bran jiile heating in 

 warm weather. 



Starch, which is more used by the human race than any other 

 chemical compound, except water, and which is found in every plant 

 that has been examined for it, constitutes about from 55 to 75 per 

 cent, of the wheat berry. 



Its grani;les consist of granulose encased in cellulose, which is a 

 covering of the same chemical composition as granulose, l)ut so dense as 

 to render the stai'ch granules insoluble in cold water. Treated with 

 boiling water they swell and burst and the starcli then becomes soluble. 

 Starches differ in the size and density of their granules, the largest 

 being found in a kind of ai-rovvroot called Tous Jes mois, next to this 

 comes the potato, then sago, the bean, pea, wheat and maize. Although 

 maize gives the lai-gest percentage of starch, yet the ])otato surpasses 

 any known product in the quantity produced from an acre. It is 

 owing to the density of the starch granules in maize that bakers scald 

 cornmeal with boi'ing water before mixing it with flour when making 

 cornbread. 



Starch submitted to a high temperature with some moisture forms 

 dextrine or British gum which is used for stiffening goods, for sizing 

 paper, and for adhesive purposes, and therefore when the tongue is 

 applied to an envelope or postage stamp the only danger incurred is the 

 absorption of a little modified starch. Egyptian wheats being poor in 

 gluten and consequently of low value for bread-making are largely used 

 in Great Britain in the manufacture of British gum. 



Although starch oocui)ies such a large portion of th*:; wheat berry, 

 yet (taking its nutritive value and the part it plays in the mechanical 

 process of breadmaking) the gluten is by far the most important con- 

 stituent. 



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