16 Notes from the Physiological Laboratory 



in. 



A STUDY OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF GLUTEN 

 WITHIN THE WHEAT-GRAIN. 



THE object of the present paper is to briefly de- 

 scribe several methods for the demonstration of 

 gluten in the central portion of the wheat-grain, and 

 the results of their application. 



For many years the great majority of observers 

 and of writers upon gluten have stated that this 

 highly important nitrogenous element of food is 

 found almost, if not quite exclusively, in the fourtli 

 layer (Parkes) of the grain, immediately below and 

 adherent to the third or inner coat of the true bran. 

 This fourth layer is composed of closely-packed yel- 

 lowish granular cells of ovate or cuboid form, each 

 of which is provided with a dense, laminated cellu- 

 lose wall, and contains a large proportion of free fat. 

 Immediately within this layer of so-called " gluten- 

 cells," and constituting the greater portion of the 

 grain, is an aggregation of much larger, usually 

 elongated, cylindrical cells, whose contents are appa- 



