244 



THE FEEDING OF ANIMALS 



We find, then, that in every wheat kernel there are three 

 coats entirely unlike the rest of the grain, because they 

 consist of hard, thick-walled cells containing but little 

 starch, if any, with a much larger proportion of cellulose 

 or fiber than is found in the inner portion of the kernel 

 (Figs. 11 and 12.) 



Just inside the innermost of the three outer coats 

 is a layer of material very rich in protein compounds, 



FIG. 11. Section of entire wheat kernel (enlarged 16 diameters). /, 

 pod and seed coatings; 4> gluten layer; 6, mass of starch cells. 



which may properly be called the gluten layer. The 

 great bulk of the wheat kernel is made up of cells closely 

 filled with starch grains. This is the soft white por- 

 tion of the seed and is that which furnishes the flour. All 

 of these parts serve to protect, and, in germination, to 

 nourish the essential portion of the seed, the germ or 

 embryo which lies "at the lower end of the rounded back 

 of the kernel/* Bessey, in an admirable description of 



