432 [Assembly 



ble proportions of phosphates in different varieties of the same spe- 

 cies of several kinds of grain, and a greater preponderance of them 

 was observed in Indian corn, than in the smaller grains, as barley, 

 oats, wheat, &c., a fact which seems to explain their peculiar pro- 

 perties as food for animals; for the more highly phosphatic grains 

 appear to be more likely to surcharge the system of adult animals 

 with bony matter, often producing concretions of phosphate of lime, 

 like those resulting from gout. It is conjectured that the stiffness 

 of the joints and lameness of the feet common in horses, which have 

 been fed too freely with maize, is caused by the preponderance of 

 the phosphates. Granting this to be true, young animals cannot fail 

 to derive more osseous matter from corn than from any other kind of 

 grain. 



The horny or flinty portions of corn, when viewed in thin sections 

 under a good microscope, will be found to consist of a great num- 

 ber of six-sided cells, filled with a fixed oil, which has been success- 

 fully employed for the purposes of illumination. It is stated that a 

 distillery has been established in the vicinity of Lake Ontario, where 

 this oil is extracted, at the rate of sixteen gallons from one hundred 

 bushels of corn, leaving the remaining portion of the corn more val- 

 uable and in better condition for distillation than before the oil is 

 extracted. On this oil depends the popping qualities of corn. For, 

 when the kernels are heated to a temperature sufficiently high to de- 

 compose the oil, a sudden explosion takes place, and every cell is 

 ruptured by the expansion of gaseous matters arising from the de- 

 composition of the oil, and the formation of carburetted hydrogen 

 gas, such as is sometimes used in lighting large cities, the grain be- 

 ing completely evoluted and folded back, or turned inside out. This 

 property is remarkably strong in the pop corn, and is common in a 

 greater or less degree, in all kinds of corn that abound in oil; but 

 those varieties destitute of a horny covering, as the Tuscarora, and 

 white flour corn, will not pop under any circumstances whatever. 



This change in corn, is one of considerable importance, so far as 

 regards facility of digestion; for, after the decomposition or extrac- 

 tion of this oil, it is more readily digested by man, though less fat- 

 tening to poultry, cattle, swine, &c. 



One important use of the oil in corn, is undoubtedly to prevent 

 the rapid decomposition of the kernels, when sown in the soil, and 

 to retain a portion of pabulum or food, until needed by the young 

 plant, and is always the last portion of the grain taken up. It also 



