33S ' Food. 



malting, appears to take place in the potatoe, during the act of 

 boiling; and the saccharine matter which is evolved, is, no doubt, 

 produced at the expence of either the starch or the mucilage, con- 

 tained in this root. For, though M. KirchofF, a Russian Chemist, 

 succeeded in converting starch almost entirely into saccharine matter, 

 by a process which has been successfully repeated in this country ; 

 yet, Einhoff has rendered it probable that the mucilage of the root 

 is converted into this substance; for, by chemically analyzing 

 potatoes, sweetened by frost, he found all the other ingredients, in 

 the usual proportions, except the mucilage. It seems, however, 

 reasonable to infer, that in addition to the circumstance of the deve- 

 lopment of sugar, by the culinary process, the potatoe is changed 

 from its natural state, which. Dr. Pearson (in his analysis of this 

 foot, communicated to the Board of Agriculture) considers to be a 

 mere mechanical mixture of water, starch, fibrous matter, and solu- 

 ble mucilage, into a new substance, containing, in great measure, 

 new properties ; for, though the starch of potatoes forms a transparent 

 solution with, yet the meal of this root is insoluble in, boiling water. 

 By boiling, the starch unites with the other constituent ingredi- 

 ents of the root, and they form together, an insoluble compound. 

 Now, if the culinary process effected no other change in the 

 potatoe than the formation of a small portion of saccharine 

 matter, this circumstance alone would furnish some clue to the cause 

 of the superiority of cooked, over raw potatoes ; but I cannot help 

 being of opinion, that the new combination which cooking produces 

 in the ingredients of the root, is of much greater consequence than 

 the development of this highly nutritious substance. 



