80 INDIAN CORN. 



has shown that the proportion of phosphates in each 

 variety of maize depends on its assimilating power. 

 It was found that of two varieties ol corn (Tuscarora 

 and sweet) growing on the same cob, the former had 

 less than half the amount of phosphates contained in 

 the latter. 



To those who have not seen the report of Dr. 

 Jackson, a brief statement of his further researches 

 will perhaps be interesting. 



In most of the yellow varieties, the oil is the seat 

 of color, the hull or epidermis being transparent. In 

 the white varieties, the oil being colorless and pellu- 

 cid, and the hull transparent, the farinaceous portion 

 of the kernel, which is white, gives a similar appear- 

 ance to the grain. In the haematite varieties the red, 

 purple, and blue colors are chiefly derived from the 

 epidermis. 



The proportions of oil vary from six to eleven per 

 cent. ; the flint corns of the ISTorth being found to con- 

 tain more than the Southern varieties. The oil is 

 analogous to animal fat, and is readily converted into 

 that substance by a slight change of composition. 



The gluten and mucilage contain nitrogen, which 

 is necessary to the formation of fibrous tissue, muscle, 

 nervous matter, and brain. 



Starch is convertible also into fat and into the car- 

 bonaceous substances of the body, and during its slow 

 combustion in the circulation, gives out a portion of 

 the heat of animal bodies ; while, in its altered state, 

 it goes to form a part of the living frame. Sugar 

 acts in a similar manner as a compound of carbon, 



