510 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE, ETC. 



observe (nob be told merely, by the teacher) and record everything that happened 

 and was done. 



Wheat having been thus dealt with, barley and oats and even maize and rice 

 should be studied in a similar wray — and cakes should be made by the children 

 (and afterwards eaten) from barley-meal, oatmeal, maize-meal and rice-meal, in 

 order that the value of cereal grains generally as foods might be impressed upon 

 them. A valuable lesson would be given if cakes v^'ere made, at this stage, from 

 various kinds of meal. 



Study o^f Flour. 



It would be learnt in the kitchen that flour forms a paste which is scarcely 

 sticky when mixed with not too much water, but that more water makes it 

 sticky; the question arises — What does water do to flour? Some things — salt 

 and sugar, for instance — dissolve in water : does flour? Each child should work 

 a pellet of flour paste between its thumb and two fingers under water (in a 

 common tumbler) : it would then be discovered that something is washed away 

 from the sticky mass and that at last a peculiar stringy rather than sticky mass 

 remains from which nothing more can be washed away even by running water. 

 From the turbid water in the tumbler, a white solid gradually settles down 

 which is not in the least sticky. The experiment should be repeated on a 

 larger scale by each child with say 30 grams of flour. This should be put 

 into a basin and mixed, by means of a short stout glass rod or stick, with about 

 half its weight of water. The paste should then be kneaded between the 

 fingers under a tap from which water trickles, the washings being collected in 

 a basin over which a square of muslin is spread, so as to catch any sticky 

 particles which may be broken away. When the washings are no longer milky, 

 the stringy mass should be dried by rolling it on the palm of the hand, con- 

 stantly drying the hand with a towel, just up to the point at which it shows 

 signs of sticking — but no longer ; then it should be placed on a 2 or 3 inch 

 square of grease-proof paper and dried in a water oven. When dry it should be 

 weighed. 



The washings should be poured into a large pickle- jar or cylinder and 

 allowed to settle. After an interval, as much as possible of the clear liquid 

 should be syphoned off and the residue collected on a filter, dried and weighed. 



In this way, the flour would be separated into gluten and starch and a fair 

 estimate would be made of the amounts of each. 



On treating barley-meal, oatmeal, maize-meal and rice-meal in the same way, 

 it would be found that they did not yield the sticky substance (gluten) when 

 kneaded with water. One reason why wheaten meal is more suitable for kitchen 

 purposes than other kinds of cereal meals would then be made clear. 



Study of Starch. 



Starch is in common use — for what purpose? For stiffening articles of 

 clothing — collars, cuffs, shirt fronts, etc. What is it like and how is it used ? 

 Examine samples and describe it. Prepare a quantity for starching by mixing 

 . . . grams with . . . cubic centimetres of cold water, using your forefinger to 

 stir them together, then pour the paste in a thin stream into . . . cubic centi- 

 metres of boiling hot water contained in a dish or saucepan of suitable size, stir- 

 ring constantly, as you pour in the paste, with a wooden spoon or rod. Set the 

 liquid aside to cool but cool a portion rapidly in a test tube under the tap. 

 Taste it and solid starch. Describe the appearance of the liquid and everything 

 that happens to it as it cools. Dilute a small portion considerably, to a 

 known extent; then add a drop or two of a solution of iodine to a litre of the 

 diluted liquid. You will thus become acquainted with the characteristic test 

 for starch. 



Carry out a like series of operations with the starch you have prepared from 

 flour. 



Examine starches from different sources under the microscope — note the effect 

 of iodine. 



Test arrowroot, sago, tapioca, macaroni, vermicelli, for starch ; also try if you 

 can extract gluten from these materials. 



