NATURAL HISTORY. 



605 



any person, in any place, and 

 upon any quantity of grain, how- 

 ever small. 



"From my experiments I am 

 inclined to believe, that must is a 

 taint produced by damp upon the 

 amylaceous part of the grain or 

 starch : that the portion of starch 

 neai'est to the husk is that which 

 is lirst tainted J and that the 

 greater or less degree of must is 

 in proportion to the taint having 

 penetrated more or less into the 

 substance of the grain. In most 

 cases, however, the taint is only 

 superficial ; but, nevertheless, if 

 not removed, it is sufficient to 

 contaminate the odour and flavour 

 of the whole, especially when 

 converted into flour. 



" After various experiments, I 

 found the following method to be 

 attended with success : — 



" The wheat must be put into 

 any convenient vessel capable of 

 containing at least three times 

 the quantity, and the vessel must 

 be subsequently filled with boiling 

 water ; the grain should then be 

 occasionally stirred, and the hol- 

 low and decayed grains (which 

 will float) may be removed ; when 

 the water has becoiue cold, or, in 

 general, when about half an hour 

 has elapsed, it is to be drawn off. 

 It will be proper then to rince the 

 corn with cold water, in order to 

 remove any portion of the water 

 which had taken up the must ; 

 after which, the corn being com- 

 pletely drained, is, without loss 

 of time, to be thinly spread on 

 the floor of a kiln, and thoroughly 

 dried, caie being taken to stir and 

 to turn it frequently during this 

 part of the process. 



" This is all that is required ; 

 and I have constantly found that 



even the most musty corn (on 

 whicli ordinary kiln-drying had 

 been tiied without effect) thus 

 became completely jmrified, whilst 

 the diminution of weight caused 

 by the solution of the tainted part 

 was veiy inconsiderable. 



I have the honour to remain, 

 Dear Sir Joseph, 

 Your most faithful and 

 obedient servant, 



Charles Hatchett." 

 Mount Clare, Roehampton, 

 Dec. 4, 1816. 



THE COUNTRY POOR. 



The two following interesting 

 stories are extracted from tlie 

 " Report of the Society for bet- 

 tering the Condition of the Poor :" 

 they are well worth the attention 

 of those country gentlemen who 

 have a sincere wish to ameliorate 

 the condition of their indigent 

 labourers. — ( Times.) 



Twenty years ago there stood a 

 small cottage by the load side, 

 near Tadcaster, which for its sin- 

 gular beaiUy, and the neatness of 

 its little garden, attracted the no- 

 tice of eveiy traveller. The re- 

 markable propriety which appear- 

 ed in every part of this tenement 

 made Sir TJ omas Bernard curious 

 to learn the history of the owner, 

 and he obtained it from his own 

 mouth. Britton Abbott (such 

 was the owner's name) was a 

 day-labourer : beginning to vvork 

 with a farmei' at nine years old, 

 and being careful and industrious, 

 he had saved nearly 401. by the 

 time that he was two-and-twenty. 

 With this money he married and 

 took a farm at 30l. a year ; but 

 the farm was too mucii for las 



means. 



