COMPOSITION OF CEKEAL GRASSES. 



453 



Starch. 



Vegetable albumen, \ 



Vegetable fibrine, ^> Crude gluten. 



Gluten-caseine, j 



Oily matter. 



Sugar. 



Gum. 



Earthy phosphates. 



Ligneous matter (bran, husk, &c.) 



Water. 



A bitter principle, and resin, have been found in some kinds 

 of corn. 



The ultimate elements of the following cereals is thus stated 

 on the authority of Boussingault : 



ULTIMATE ELEMENTS OF CORN, DRIED AT 230 FAHRENHEIT. 



The nitrogenised constituents of the cereal grains or, in the 

 language of Liebig, their plastic elements of nutrition are 

 vegetable albumen, gluten-fibrin e, gluten-casein e, and gluten 

 (Dumas and Cahours); while their non-nitrogenised constitu- 

 ents, or the elements of respiration, are starch, sugar, gum, and 

 oily matter. 



Triticum vulgare. The varieties of wheat are too numerous 

 to be noticed here ; we must refer the reader for information 

 on this point to some work on agriculture. It is the most 

 valuable of the cereal grains. The grain of wheat consists of 

 two portions, the husk or bran, arid the grain proper. The 

 proportion of bran to flour varies in different specimens, but 



