7 GO 



POTATO. 



jelly. This kind of bread is remarkably light, and 

 keeps longer moist than other bread. It toasts 

 much better, and makes better bread puddings. 

 Another most important use to which potato-flour 

 can be applied, is to give it, boiled in milk, in 

 the proportion of two spoonfuls of flour to one pint 

 of milk, to young children, brought up by hand, 

 and not at the breast, or after they are weaned 

 from the breast. A great quantity of starch is 

 consumed in making what is called the dressing for 

 weaver's webs. Until of late, this was entirely 

 made from wheat, and still a great proportion of 

 it is so. But if potato starch were universally 

 adopted for the purpose, as is the case now 

 throughout France, a very great consumption of 

 wheat would be saved. This substance is also put 

 to another use, namely, the making of size, 

 which, for some purposes, such as white-washing, 

 is greatly superior to common size, as it has 

 no offensive smell, and has a more durable white- 

 ness. 



The next useful product derivable from the po- 

 tato is sugar. The discovery by chemical analysis, 

 chat the potato, though far different in form, taste, 

 and all external qualities, was perfectly similar in 

 component parts to the different kinds of grain 

 used for the food of the man, led naturally to in- 

 quiries, whether the products derived from these 

 grains, by submitting them to different chemical 

 operations, might not be procured also from this 

 root. Complete success was the consequence. It 

 was found, among other things, that a substance, 

 possessing all the properties of sugar, though dif- 

 fering a little from that of the sugar cane, could be 

 procured by a simple operation from the potato. 

 Until lately, however, the discovery was considered 

 only as a matter of curiosity, and was mentioned 

 only among men of science. Experiments were 

 tried, on an extensive scale, in the United States 

 of America, to ascertain whether, in districts where 

 the potato grows abundantly, this sugar might not 

 be made advantageously both to the population of 

 the district, and to the manufacturer himself. The 

 potatoes were ground by a very ingenious and sim- 

 ple method, by exposing them through a box or 

 hopper to the action of a wooden cylinder, having 

 nailed upon it long strips of iron punched full of 

 holes, to give them a rough grating surface. This 

 cylinder was driven by a band of leather attached 

 to the drum of a water-wheel. On filling the 

 hopper with potatoes, and giving the grater the 

 necessary motion, the potatoes were reduced with 

 surprising rapidity to a fine pulp, from which, by 

 the aid of a sieve and water, the starch, in great 

 purity, was readily obtained. This apparatus 

 ground 3500 bushels of potatoes without the least 

 repair. The starch thus obtained was then dis- 

 solved completely in water, heated by steam let 

 into it. A certain quantity of sulphuric acid, or 

 vitriol, was then mixed with it, and heat being ap- 

 plied, the whole of the starch was converted into 

 syrup. This was purified from the acid by adding 

 quicklime, and then evaporated ; when the result 

 was an excellent sugar fit for all domestic purposes. 

 A bushel of potatoes, weighing 60 lb., gives 8 Ib. 

 of pure dry starch ; and from these 8 lb., 7 lb. of 

 sugar are obtained. This sugar ferments briskly, 

 when made into beer, and yields a healthful and 

 pleasant beverage. It will be of most use, how- 

 ever, for making sweetmeats, and may be used at 

 table in place of honey, for which it is a good sub- 

 stitute. It has already become a great favourite 



with most persons who have become acquainted 

 with it. Its taste is that of a delicious sweet, and 

 as an article of diet it is probably more healthful, 

 and less oppressive to the stomach, than any other 

 sweet substance in use.* Potatoes are used exten- 

 sively in the eastern part of Russia for making 

 treacle, which is quite as sweet and good as that 

 which we obtain from the tropics, but having less 

 consistence. 



As all substances containing saccharine matter 

 are capable of producing ardent spirit, we would 

 naturally be led to expect, from the foregoing re- 

 marks, that it might be procured from the potato: 

 and such is the fact. In 1747, experiments on the 

 distillation of brandy from potatoes were made in 

 Sweden, and the result was so favourable that it 

 was proposed to substitute them in a great mea- 

 sure for grain. In England Dr Anderson was the 

 first who obtained spirits from this plant, and the 

 account which he published of his operations is 

 very interesting. The potatoes were boiled to a 

 pulp, bruised, and the skins thrown away. Water 

 was then added, and a great quantity of yeast 

 mixed with it. In twelve hours it fermented, and 

 this was kept up by occasional stirring for a fortnight. 

 The liquor, which was now slightly acid, was dis- 

 tilled, and, from seventy-two lb. of potatoes which 

 had been used, was obtained a gallon of pure spirits 

 considerably above proof, and a quart more below 

 proof. " This," says the doctor, " was in every 

 respect the finest and most agreeable vinous spirit 

 I ever saw. In taste it somewhat resembled 

 brandy, but it was more mild than any brandy I 

 ever tasted ; and had a certain kind of coolness on 

 the palate peculiar to itself, by which it might be 

 readily distinguished by a nice judge from any other 

 kind of spirit. Its flavour more nearly resembled 

 brandy impregnated with the odour of violets and 

 raspberries, than anything else to which I could 

 compare it. A single glass of it put into a bowl 

 of rum punch, made it appear as if it had consisted 

 half and half of rum and brandy, impregnated with 

 the juice of raspberries. It seemed to derive its 

 flavour from a subtile essential oil of a very singu- 

 lar kind." " I have been at great pains," continues 

 the doctor, " to describe this kind of spirit in its 

 state of perfection, because I have since heard of 

 and seen some spirits said to be drawn from pota- 

 toes, which, from want of skill or caution on the 

 part of the operators, were intolerably nauseous. "f 

 It has been supposed, as before remarked, that, 

 with proper management, potatoes might form a 

 cheaper material than barley to extract spirits from ; 

 and accordingly, in the isle of Guernsey, there was 

 a distillery where they were used with success ; 

 and, in 1821, there were actually in Paris twenty 

 distilleries for extracting brandy from the potato 

 starch, and nearly as many more within a circle of 

 eight leagues round it. In 1822 these were all put 

 a stop to, for some reason connected with the re- 

 venue laws. 



The next product of the potato is a kind of 

 cheese. The manufacture of this is carried on in 

 Thuringia and Saxony, and it has the advantage of 

 retaining its freshness for several years, provided it 

 be kept in close vessels. It is prepared by boiling 

 the potatoes, and reducing them, when cold, to a 

 pulp, rejecting the skins. Sour milk is added, or 

 else sweet curd with the whey pressed out, in 

 the proportion of a pint to five lb. of pulp. It i> 



SillimanV Journal. 



t Bath Society Papers. 



