I 



t 



Lidian Corn. 811 



tions for various purposes on tlie surface, wliich are such as to 

 rentier it probably the largest and most conipU'te mining cfata- 

 blishment in the world^ will have been executed in two years. 



INDIAN CORN. 



Dr. John Gorham, of Harvard University, Cambridge (U. S.), 

 has latelv examined this grain, chemically, with great attention. 

 His experiments were made upon two varieties of maize, that 

 producing small yellow grain, and the large fiat white kind, known 

 by the name of Virginian corn. The results were so similar, that 

 those only belonging to the former have been detailed. Accord- 

 ing to his analysis, the constituents of yellow Indian corn in the 

 common and dry state are : 



Common State. Dry State. 



Water 90 .. .. 



Starch 770 .. .. 84-599 



Zeine 3-0 ,. .. 3-296 



Albumen 2-5 .. .. 2-747 



Gummy matter r75 .. .. 1-922 



Saccharine matter 1-45 .. .. 1*593 



Extractive matter 08 .. .. 0-879 



Cuticle and ligneous fibre .. 3-0 .. .. 3-29G 



Phosp. carb. sul. of lime and loss 1-5 ,. .. 1-648 



100- 99-980 



Zeine is a yellow substance resembling bees' wax, soft, ductile, 

 tenacious, elastic, insipid, nearly iiiodorous, and heavier than 

 water. When heated it swells, becomes brown, smells like burn- 

 ing bread, melts with the odour of animal matter, and leaves a 

 bulky charcoal. It burns in the flame of a lamp, but not rapidly. 

 Seems to yield no anmionia on distillation. It is insoluble in 

 water — soluble in alcohol, oil of turpentine, and sulphuric ether, 

 and sparingly so in mineral acids and caustic alkalies. It is in- 

 soluble in fixed oils, but mixed with resin. The quantity ob- 

 tained from 100 grains was three grains. The substance to 

 which Dr. Gorham has given the name of Zeine appears to differ 

 from all known vegetalile bodies : it resembles gluten in some cir- 

 cumstances, but differs from it in containing no azote, in its great 

 solubility in alcohol, and in its permanency, not undergoing any 

 olnious change in six weeks. On the other hand, it is analogous 

 to the resins in its solubility in alcohol, essential oils, alkalies, 

 and partial solubility in acids. It is inflammable, and probably 

 composed of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. It may easily be 

 obtained by digesting a few ounces of the meal from the yellow 

 corn in a flask with warm alcohol, allowing it to rest for some 

 hours, then filtering and evoporating. 



LIST 



