USE OF INDIAN CORN OIL. 153 



irregulo^ layer round the side only of tlie seed ; 

 while in others again, as in the rice-corn, the seed 

 consists almost entirely of a large horny part and a 

 large chit. 



As the oil exists in this horny part, it is obvious that 

 those varieties in which this part is large ought generally 

 to contain most oil ; and such is found to be the case. It 

 was an ignorance of these diiferences among the varieties 

 of Indian corn which a few years ago caused the violent 

 dispute between Liebig and Dumas, or rather the hasty 

 contradiction by Liebig of the statement of Dumas, as to 

 the large quantity of oil contained in this grain. From 

 2 to 9 per cent of oil can be extracted from it, according 

 to the variety employed. 



In the distilleries of the Western States, where corn- 

 brandy is made, the oil is extracted and sold as a product 

 of the manufacture. A hundred bushels of the large 

 southern or western corn, in which the horny part is not 

 very large, yields fifteen or sixteen gallons of oil, which 

 is at the rate of about 2J- per cent of the weight of the 

 grain as it comes to market. Previous to distillation, the 

 Indian corn is fermented with malt, and, during the fer- 

 mentation, the oil rises to the surface and is skimmed off. 

 It is a bright pale yellow agreeable- smelKng oil, and 

 sells for about a dollar a gallon. It is used for burning 

 in lamps in western New York, in Ohio, in Michigan, 

 and upon Lake Superior. 



The popping of corn is owing to the presence of this 

 oil, but only those varieties will pop in which the horny 

 part is large, and surrounds completely the internal 

 starchy part. The varieties called pop-corn and rice- 

 corn possess this property in the highest degree. When 

 they are heated in a close iron vessel — hke a coffee- 

 roaster — to about 600° Fahr., the oil contained in the 

 horny part expands — perhaps in part decomposes — tears 

 asunder every little cell in which it is contained, bursts 



