FOODS, FOOD-STUFFS, AND FOOD-ADJUNCTS. 31 



United Kingdom in 1884 imported 346,188 cwt., 

 valued at 195,680, mostly via Singapore.* 



Various preparations of MAIZE STARCH (Zea Mays, 

 L.), under the names Corn-flour, Corn Starch, Oswego 

 Starch or Maizena, are now extensively used for 

 puddings and blancmange, especially for children and 

 invalids. 



SEMOLA or SEMOLINA consists of the small round 

 or oval particles of some of the harder or 'flinty' 

 varieties of Italian Wheat which collect in the fur- 

 rows of the millstones. It also is used for puddings. 

 RICE, or PATENT, STARCH, made from Rice 

 (Oryza sativa, L.) by the caustic alkali process 

 already referred to, is now the chief form of starch 

 employed for laundry purposes, and is also largely 

 used in the muslin manufacture. 



The staple food of more than four-fifths of the 

 human race is formed of the grains or fruit of various 

 grasses, most of which are ground' into meal or flour 

 and largely used in the form of bread. These grasses 

 are known as ' cereals.' Of these the chief are Wheat 

 (Triticum vulgar e, L.), Barley (Hordeuiri), Oats (Avena 

 sativa, L.), Rye (Secale cereale, L.), and the Millets, of 

 which the most important is Durra {Sorghum vulgar e, 

 P.). With them may be classed the Buckwheat (Fago- 

 pyrum esculentum, Mch.), which is not a grass, and 

 Maize and Rice, which, though grasses, are not used 

 in the main as bread-stuffs. 



WHEAT, unknown in a wild state, belongs mainly 



to two distinct forms Winter Wheat (Triticum hyber- 



num, "L.) and Summer Wheat (T. czstivum, L.). Though 



used in matting, in the manufacture of starch, and 



* ' Encyclopaedia Britannica,' vol. xxi, pp. 148, 149. 



