434 [Assembly 



degree of oxidation during the circulation through the lungs, arteries, 

 extreme vessels and veins, to convey the oxygen to every part of the 

 body. 



By soaking Indian corn, after it has been cut open, in a watery 

 solution of sulphate of copper, (blue vitriol,) the result will give a 

 decisive proof of the presence of phosphoric acid. The " chits," or 

 parts containing the germs, will be changed to a bluish-green, 

 beautifully defining the limits of the phosphates of lime and of 

 magnesia contained in the grain. 



By soaking a kernel of corn split open longitudinally and thrown 

 into a solution of sulphydrate of ammonia, the chit is soon changed 

 to a dark olive-color, which arises from the change of the salts of 

 iron into a sulphuret of that metal. 



By cutting open, in a similar manner, a kernel of maize, or any 

 other kind of grain, and dropping upon it a small quantity of the 

 tincture of iodine, a portion of its bulk will be immediately changed 

 to an intense blue, indicating the presence of starch, with here and 

 there a deep port-wine-colored speck, which will define the parts 

 composed of dextrine. If the oil is extracted from the transparent 

 part of the corn by alcohol, or ether, the tincture of iodine will in- 

 dicate the presence of starch in that part of the grain associated with 

 the gluten. 



By these means, we may readily cause any grain to define the 

 extent and precise limits of each of its ingredients; and by the eye, 

 we can form a pretty correct estimate of their relative proportions 

 in different seeds.* 



The varieties of Indian corn are very numerous, exhibiting every 

 grade of size, color, and conformation, between the shrubby reed 

 that grows on the shores of Lake Superior, to the gigantic stalks of 

 the Ohio valley, the tiny ears with flat, close-clinging grains of 

 Canada, the brilliant, rounded, little pearl, or the bright-red grains 

 and white cob of the eight-rowed haematite, to the swelling ears of 

 the big white, and yellow gourd-seed of the South. The principal 

 varieties cultivated in the United States, which may be distinguished 

 by the number of rows of grains on the cob, and the color, shape, 

 or size of the kernels, may be classified and described as follows: — 



*See Jackson's Report on the Geology and Mineralogy of New Hampshire, pp. 

 255 et seq. 



