oi.. xm. NO. 45 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



357 



stalks not cut, 4^! 1-4 lbs,, equal to 92 "^0-75 

 lels per acre. 



[Concluded in our neit] 



ROPERTIES OF INDIAN CORN, &c. 



iVo copy the folldwing frotn the piibllslied trnns- 

 )ns i)f llic Uciston Natural History Society :] 

 t a ro;;ul.ir inoctinfr ot' tlie Society lielJ June 

 1843, Dr. C. T. Jackson made a vfibil coniinu- 

 tion oil researches made by himself and Mr A. 

 layec, of Ro.xbury, nspccling the saline and 

 r mur-dieiits of Zea mays, niul other frrains, 

 bitinjir specimens of seedd to which Mr Hayes' 

 of suliiiiiie of copper, for the detection of the 

 ts of the (diosphales, had been applied. He 

 exliibil^'H specimens to which tincture of 

 ne ha.i been applied, which indicated the ex- 

 of the s-.arch in each kind of grain and in 

 ral other plants. Mr Hayes' discovery of tlie 

 ts of u salt of tlie peroxide of iron, was demon- 

 ted by soaking Indian corn in sulpliyjrate of 

 noiiia. 



'he relative proportions of oil in the different 

 eties of corn, was shown by si'clions of the 

 lel, also the relative proportions of the zeine of 

 ham or the gluten of corn. The causes of the 

 jliar explosion and evolution of the starch and 

 en of corn in parching, was explained by the 

 -jinpesitinn of the oil in the cells of the trans- 

 nt portions of the grain. 



)r. Jackson had observed, in April, 1840, while 

 llyzin^: the aslies of Indian corn, that after com- 

 Itioii of the corn in a plalina capsule, at a high 

 Iperaliire, the platina was rendered brittle, and 

 |i In part converted into a phosphuret of that 

 Lai. On examining into the cause of this, he 

 i;overed plio--phoric acid united to some volatile 

 destructible base, mixed with the phosphates of 

 le and of magnesia. 



His s'lbsequcnt researches satisfied him that the 

 alile base in question was ammonia, which he 

 larated by the action of potash and lime, at a 

 iperature below that required for charring the 

 tin. 



By the action of nitric acid, he burnt out the 

 ■bonaceous matter from the ashes of corn, and 

 jcured a considerable quantity of glacial phos- 

 oric acid. In all these experiments, thus far, 

 > ichole grain was employed. 

 In May, 1^42, .Mr A. A. Hayes, of Roxbury, ex- 

 )ite<l to the chemical association some specimens 

 soutliern corn, which had been cut in two and 

 aked in a solution of sulphate of copper; and 

 IS test rnnst beautifully marked out the limits of 

 1 phosphates in that grain. Profiting by this in- 

 resting experiment, and observing that the phns- 

 atPS were indicated only in the co/j/^erfon of corn, 

 r. Jackson dissected out the cotyledons, analyzed 

 em sppiirately, and glacial phosphoric acid, phos- 

 late of lime, phosphate of magnesia, and amino- 

 1 were obtained. The proportions in the ashes 

 the whole corn, was but 1 per ct. of phosphates 

 lime, n^agnesia and free phosphoric acid, and a 

 tie silica. 



The cotyledons taken separately gave C.4 per 

 . of fusible matter, which ran freely when mclt- 

 I. It consisted of 



Phos. lime, 2.4 



Phos. acid, 3.2 



Phns. magnesia, 0.8 



He also maiJe an extensive series of researches 

 t\ other seeds, both of the Monocotyledonous and 



Dicotyledonous plants, which determined the exis- 

 tence of the phosphates exclusively in iheir coty- 

 ledons. The specimens to which Mr Hayes' test 

 had been applied, and which were exhibited to the 

 Society, were peas and beans of various kinds, 

 squash and pumpkin seeds, horse-chesnuts, the 

 common chesnut, pen-nut, barley, oats, wheat, rye, 

 buckwheat and cocoa-nut; also potato tubers and 

 turnip bulbs. In all these the existence of phos- 

 pliates was demonstrated. 



In almonds, walnuts, butternuts, and most oily 

 seeds, the sulphate of co|)per fails to demonstrate 

 the presence of pliospliatos. 



The application of tincture of iodine proved the 

 presence and limits of starch in the turnip, and in 

 several other plants which were exhibited. 



A sample of the hard and tr.insparent portion of 

 Indian corn, from which the oil and zeine had been 

 removed by alcohol and ether, was proved by the 

 iodine tast to be starch. It was observed that 

 weak tincture of iodine does not color this portion 

 of the corn until the oil is removed. If strong 

 tincture of iodine is employed, the alcohol remov- 

 ing the oil, causes the freed starch to take the blue 

 color. 



Beans and peas, consistin;^ mostly of legumine, 

 discovered by Braconnot, do not take a blue color 

 like the starch containing grains, but become dark 

 brown. I 



Specimens of various germinated and growing ] 

 plants were also tested before the Society. In 

 the potato sprout the starch was traced up into the 

 plumule about half an inch, where it disappeared, 

 and dextrine was present, the starch having under- 

 gone a metamorphosis into that substance. Simi- 

 lar experiments were tried on Indian corn, which 

 had been grown about two inches high, in pure 

 powdered quartz. The changes which the seed 

 iiad undergone were quite interesting, and it was 

 seen, by the iodine test, that the starch of the al- 

 bumen had been absorbed, and was changed in the 

 plumule into dextrine and sugar. The portion of 

 the corn where the oil exists with starch and glu- 

 ten, had begun to change, and iodine instantly 

 forms a blue compound with the starch. On ap- 

 plying the sulphate of copper, the presence of 

 phosphoric acid in the radicle and plumule, and a 

 little around it, was readily proved. 



On testing germinated English beans, the pre- 

 sence of phosphates was demonstrated in the coiy. 

 ledons, but iodine did not prove the formation of 

 starch from the legumin. The same experiment 

 was performed with the common bean, with the 

 same results. It will be interesting to study the 

 changes which legumin (a substance now supposed 

 to be identical with caseine,) undergoes in the 

 process of germination. As yet, we know of no 

 chemical researches on its transformationa in the 

 living plant. 



Dr. J. had observed that cucurbitaceous plants 

 contained nitrate of potash, and had consequently 

 directed its application around the roots of such 

 vines. Observations on such plants grown on ni- 

 trous ground, where old barns had been removed, 

 proved the value of that salt as a manure for 

 squashes, pumpkins and melons. 



Dr. Jackson remarked, that he had satisfactorily 

 proved, that the gluten of Indian corn, or the zeine 

 of Gorliam, contained .'» per ct. of nitrogen, which 

 was naturally overlooked at a time when the means 

 for exactly separating that clement were unknown. 

 Corn also contains ti per ct. of oil. 



The following reflections naturally suggest them- 

 selves, on considering the ingreilients of Indian 

 corn : 



1st. 'I'he phosphates of lime and magnesia are 

 essential ingredients of animal bones and of seve- 

 ral different libroiis organs. 



2d. Phosphate of ammonia exists in the albu- 

 minous and fibrous cerebral and nervous matters of 

 animals. 



3d. Nitrogen, so essential to animals, which is 

 not absorbed m any other way than by the food re- 

 ceived through the digestive organs, exists in the 

 glutinous part of this grain. 



4lh. Starch, the matter which so readily under- 

 goes transformations into other carbonaceous in- 

 gredients, exists in the corn, and is one of the most 

 nutritive ingredients, capable of being converted 

 into fat, or into any other matter having carbon, 

 hydrogen and oxygen for Iheir elements. 



oih. The oil of corn is ready formed fat, requir- 

 ing but little change in the animal economy. 



fitli. The peroxide of iron of corn, furnishes 

 the red globules of the blood with that important 

 ingredient, the transporter of oxygen, which gives 

 the blood its renovating properties. 



These ingredients, common also to other cereal 

 grains, explain to us why they have been jually 

 called the " stalT of life." 



[At the same meeting, Dr. Jackson submitted nn 

 analysis of the Raspberry, made by him, which we 

 perceive is the same one that was cpied into our 

 columns two or three weeks since, from a London 

 paper, in which it appeared without credit — the 

 correspondent who communicated it, staling that 

 he had forgollen to note his authority : had the 

 authority been Enf^lisk instead of American, he 

 might, perhaps, have renienibercd to give credit.] 



Carrots for Horsts. — We were lately told by 

 the proprietor of one of the most extensive livery 

 stables m this city, that he has had an experience 

 of several years in feeding the common yellow car- 

 rots to his horses, and that he considers them the 

 most valuable article for winter feed that he has 

 ever used. He considers a peck of carrots and a 

 peck of oats worth more for a horse than a bushel 

 of oats alone ; and for horses that are not constant- 

 ly employed, the carrots alono are far preferable to 

 oats. He would purchase carrots for his horses in 

 preference to oats, even if they cost the same by 

 the bushel ; the price of carrots, however, is gene- 

 rally about half that of oats. His horses eat the 

 carrots with a far better relish than oats — so much 

 so, that if a peck of each are turned into the man- 

 ger, they will cat all the carrots before they taste 

 the oats. When fed constantly on carrots, a horse 

 will drink scarcely a pail of water in a week. The 

 culture of carrots is recommended to our farmers 

 as worthy of their attention. — Conn. Far. Caz. 



To Destroy Caterpittars. — As Eoon as the nest 

 can he seen, procure some pure spirits of ammonia, 

 tie a piece of sponge to a pole that is long enough 

 to reach the highest nests, fill the sponge with am- 

 monia, and once filling will be sufficient to rub off 

 and destroy from 30 to 4l) nests — Jiner. .Igricull. 



[Very strong lye, applied as above, has been 

 found effectual for the destruction of caterpillars.] 



The juice of onions applied to the part stung by 

 a bee, is said to afford immediate relief, in extract- 

 ing the poison. 



