70 PROPERTIES OF STARCH. 



The nutritive process in the carnivora thus pre- 

 sents itself in two distinct forms ; one of which we 

 again meet with in the graminivora. 



XIII. In the class of graminivorous animals, we 

 observe, that during their whole life, their existence 

 depends on the supply of substances having a com- 

 position identical with that of sugar of milk, or 

 closely resembling it. Every thing that they con- 

 sume as food contains a certain quantity of starch, 

 or gum,, or sugar, mixed with other matters. 



The most abundant and widely-extended of the 

 substances of this class is amylon or starch ; it 

 occurs in roots, seeds, and stalks, and even in wood, 

 deposited in the form of roundish or oval globules, 

 which differ from each other in size alone, being 

 identical in chemical composition. (11) In the same 

 plant, in the pea, for example, we find starch, the 

 globules of which differ in size. Those in the 

 expressed juice of the stalks have a diameter of 

 from Tib to 1777 of an inch, while those in the seed 

 are three or four times larger. The globules in 

 arrow-root and in potato starch are distinguished 

 by their large size ; those of rice and of wheat are 

 remarkably small. 



It is well known that starch may be converted 

 into sugar by very different means. This change 

 occurs in the process of germination, as in malting, 

 and it is easily accomplished by the action of acids. 

 The metamorphosis of starch into sugar depends 



