GEK3IINATIO^. 323 



Next, the cavity appears enlarged (2,) its borders assume 

 a corroded appearance (3, 4,) and frequently channels are 

 seen extending to the surface (4, 5, 6.) Finally, the 

 cavity becomes so large, and the channels so extended, 

 that the starch-grain falls to pieces (7, 8.) Solution con- 

 tinues on the fragments until they have completely disap- 

 peared. In this process it is most probable that the starch 

 assumes the liquid form without loss of its proper chemi- 

 cal characters, though it ceases to strike a blue color with 

 iodine.* 



Soluble Albuminoids. As we have seen (p. 104,) in- 

 soluble animal fibrin and casein, by long keeping with 

 imperfect access of air, pass into soluble bodies, and lat- 

 terly E. Mulder has shown that diastase rapidly accom- 

 plishes the same change. It would appear, in fact, that 

 the conversion of a small quantity of any albuminoid into 

 a ferment, by oxidation, is sufficient to render the whole 

 soluble. The ferment exerts on the bodies from which it 

 is formed, an action similar to that manifested by it to- 

 wards starch and other carbohydrates. 



The production of small quantities of acetic and lactic 

 acids (the acids of vinegar and of sour milk) has been 

 observed in germination. These acids perhaps assist in 

 the solution of the albuminoids. 



Gaseous Products of Germination. Before leaving 

 this part of our subject, it is proper to notice some other 

 results of germination which have been thought to belong 

 to the process of solution. On referring to the table of 

 the composition of malt, we find that 100 parts of dry 

 barley yield 92 parts of malt and 2 of sprouts, leaving 

 5^- parts unaccounted for. In the malting process 1^- parts 

 of the grain are dissolved in the water in which it is 

 soaked. The remaining 4 parts escape into the atmos- 

 phere in the gaseous form. 



* According to Liebig, this blue reaction depends upon the adhesion of the 

 iodine to the starch, and is not the result of a chemical combination. 



