38 MEMOIR ON 



The proportion of oil is evidently overrated in this 

 analysis, and the error is attributed by Dr. Jackson to 

 the solubility of the zeine or gluten of the corn in ether, 

 which Payen used to dissolve the oil. The gluten 

 being taken up by this process, was mistaken for oil, 

 and credited in the analysis as such, when it should 

 have been put under the head of nitrogenized matter. 

 It is not surprising, he remarks that M. Dumas, in 

 quoting this analysis, should observe that a individuals 

 who eat corn for some time, present symptoms of an 

 accumulation of fat jn their tissue, which will not ap- 

 pear astonishing, when we consider that a bushel of 

 corn would yield a quart (litre) of oil !" If this doc- 

 trine were true, those Americans, who derive a great 

 part of their subsistence from Indian corn, would be 

 an excessively fat people. 



According to the analysis recently made in England 

 by Professor Playfair, some specimens of corn of 

 American growth, yielded, in one hundred parts by 

 weight, the following proportions : 



Proteine, -------- 7 



Fatty matter, - 5 



Starch, - - 76 



Water, 12 



100 



By this analysis it would seem that maize contains 

 less proteine or nutritive matter, than wheat, oats, or 

 barley, but more than either rice or potatoes. In fact, 

 it contains about three and a half times the quantity 

 of nutritive matter that is found in potatoes, and a 

 much larger proportion of starch, and less water. It 

 also contains more fatty matter than any of these pro- 

 ducts, which is a very important consideration where the 

 mere fattening of animals is taken into account. Hence, 

 as an article of food, either for man or animals, it is 

 superior to potatoes and rice, but inferior to wheat, 

 oats, or barley. It is re'lished by all animals that 

 are not exclusively carnivorous, and certainly is highly 

 nutritious. 



