46 



• KNOWLEDGE 



[Jan. 16, 1885. 



warm water, leaving it for an hour or two, or longer, and 

 then pressing out the licjuid. 



I find that oatmeal porridge, when thus treated with malt 

 or malt extract, is thinned by the conversion of the bulk of 

 its insoluble starch into soluble dextrine ; that boiled rice is 

 similarly thinned; that a stiff jelly of arrowroot is at once 

 rendered watery, and its conversion into dextrine is demon- 

 strated by its altered action on a solution of iodine. Instead 

 of instantly striking a blue-black colour on admixture, only 

 a slight brownish tinge is di.«played, and Udt even this when 

 the temperature has been oarefuUy maintained. 



Sago and tapioca are similarly changed, but not so com- 

 pletely as arrowroot. This is evidently because they con- 

 tain a little nitrogenous matter and cellulose, which, when 

 stirred, give a milkiness to the otherwise clear and limpid 

 solution of dextrine. 



Pease-pudding when thus treated behaves very instruc- 

 tively. Instead of remaining as a fairly uniform paste, it 

 partially separates into paste and clear liquid, the paste 

 being the cellulose and vegetable casein, the liquid a solu- 

 tion of the dextrine or converted starch. Turnips, carrot?, 

 potatoes, ifec, behave similarly, the general results showing 

 that, so far as the starch is concerned, there is no practical 

 dilEculty in obtaining a practically sufficient amount of 

 conversion of the starch into dextrine by means of a very 

 small quantity of maltose. 



" Hasty pudding," made of boiled flour, is similarly 

 altered ; generally speaking, the degree of visible altera- 

 tions is proportionate to the amount of starch, but the 

 smaller the proportion and the greater that of cellulose, the 

 more slowly the change occurs. 



I have made a malt porridge by using ground malt, from 

 which I sifted out as much huskaspossible, instead of oatmeal. 

 I found it rather too sweet ; but, on mixing about one part 

 of malt flour with four or more of oatmeal, an excellent 

 and easily-digestible porridge was obtained, and one which 

 I strongly recommend as a most valuable food for strong 

 people and invalids, children and adults. 



Further details of these experiments would be tedious, 

 and are not necessary, as they display no chemical changes 

 that are new to science, and the practical results may be 

 briefly stated without such details. 



I recommend, 1st, the production of malt flour by 

 grinding and sifting malted wheat, malted barley, or malted 

 oats, or all of these, and the retailing of this at its fair 

 value as a staple article of human food. Every shopkeeper 

 who sells flour or meal of any kind should sell this. 



2nd. That this malted flour, or the extract made from it 

 as above described, be mixed with the ordinary flour used 

 in making pastry, biscuits, bread, &c.,* and with all kinds 

 of porridge, pea soup, and other farinaceous preparations, 

 and that when these are cooked they should be slowly 

 heated at first, in order that the maltose may act upon 

 the starch at its most favourable temperature — 50 or 60 

 degrees below the boiling-point. 



3rd. When practicable, such preparations as porridge, 

 pastry, pea-soup, pease-pudding, ko, should be prepared 

 by first cooking them in the usual manner, then stirring the 

 malt meal or malt extract into them, and allowing them to 

 remain for some time. Tliis time may vary from a few 

 hours to several days — the longer the better. I have proved 



* I have lately learned that a patent was secured some years ago 

 fur " malt bread," and that it is still obtainable from many bakers, 

 who make under a licence from the patentee. The " revised 

 formula" for tliis, which I have just obtained, says: Take of 

 wheat meal, G pounds ; wheat flour, G pounds ; malt flour, G ounces ; 

 German yeast, 2 ounces; salt, 2 ounces ; water sufficient. Make 

 into dough (without first melting the malt), prove well, and bake 

 in tins. Malt flour' is also sold, but at fancy prices, absurdly beyond 

 its just value. 



by experiments on boiled rice, oatmeal porridge, pease 

 pudding, A'c , that complete conversion may thus be eflected. 

 When the temperature of 140 deg. to l.'iOdeg. is carefully 

 obtained, the work of conversion is done in half-an-hour or 

 less. At 212 deg. it is arrested. At temperatures below 

 140 deg. it proceeds with a slowness varying with the de- 

 pression of temperature. The most rapid result is obtained 

 by first cooking the food as usual, then reducing its tem- 

 perature to l-iiO deg., and adding the malt flour or extract, 

 and keeping up the temperature for a short time. 



iih. Besides the malt meal oi malt Sour, which I pre- 

 sume will be preferably made from barley, I recommend 

 the manufacture of what I may call " pearl malt," that is, 

 malt treated as barley is treated in the manufacture of 

 pearl barley. This pearl malt may be very largely used in 

 soups, puddings, and for other purposes evident to the 

 practical cook. It may be found preferable to the malt 

 flour or meal for some of the above-named purposes, 

 especially for making a puree like Rumford's soup. I 

 strongly recommend such a soup to vegetarians, i.e., the 

 Rumford soup. No. 1, already described, but with the ad- 

 mixture of a little pearl malt with the pearl barley (or malt 

 meal failing the pearl malt). 



A small proportion of malt flour, l-20th for example, has 

 a considerable effect, and if a fancy price is to be paid for 

 it such a proportion may be used, but if it comes into suffi- 

 cient demand to be subject to wholesome competition 

 larger proportions up to one-fourth will be desirable. 



In my experiments I used the malt extract in order to 

 render the result visible, but this is not necessary in prac- 

 tice. Either the extract or the flour may be used, as may 

 be convenient. In all cases time should be allowed for the 

 conversion of the starch to take place before raising the 

 temperature to 212°, keeping in view the principles above 

 explained as regards the temperature and time required for 

 conversion. 



I have not yet met with any malted maize commercially 

 prepared, but the experiments that I have made on a small 

 scale show that it is a very desirable product I name it 

 here and now (Jan. 8, 1885) to prevent its becoming 

 patented, as there are so many greedy people who rush to 

 the Great Seal Office with any idea they may pick up, how- 

 ever trivial. Any previous publication of the invention is 

 sufficient to frustrate the monopoly. The same applies to 

 the other uses of malt that I have specified. 



I am still unable to speak positively as to the efficiency 

 of vegetable diastase in breaking up or effecting the hydra- 

 tion of cellulose and its conversion into sugar ; but the 

 following facts are promising : — 



I treated sago, tapioca, and rice with the maltose as 

 above, and found that at a temperature of 140° to 150° 

 all the starch disappeared in about half-an-hour, as proved 

 by the iodine test. Still the liquid was not clear, flocculi 

 of cellulo.se, ic, were suspended in it. 



I kei)t this on the top of a stove several days, the tempe- 

 rature of the liquid varying from 100° to 180", while the 

 fire was burning and falling to that of the atmosphere at 

 night. The quantity of the insoluble suspended matter 

 sensibly diminished, but it was not entirely removed. 



This has led me to make further experiments, now in 

 progress, on the ensilage of human food, with the aid of 

 diastase. I am packing various kinds of vegetable food in 

 small silos, adding to them varying proportions of malt 

 flour or malt extract, and I hereby declare, for the benefit 

 of would-be patentees, that this invention, whether worth- 

 less or otherwise, is mine, and cannot be secured by them, 

 as I have witnesses of the date of this writing and copy 

 thereof. I shall certainly not patent this, or any of the 

 above inventions myself, and will prevent others from 



