<>5o 



MAIZE 



CHAP. 

 XIII. 



content of carbon, by its resistance to the action of dilute 

 alkalies (i.e. non-convertibility into alkali-albuminate), and by 

 the ease with which it is converted into an insoluble modifica- 

 tion on being warmed with water, or with very weak alcohol. 

 Soluble zein and the insoluble modification have the same 

 chemical composition. Both respond to the ordinary proteid 

 reactions [Chittenden and Osborne, 2). 



604. Ether Extract or "Fat". — This consists of fat, wax, 

 resins, and similar substances. In grains and seeds it is nearly 

 all fat or oil, and has a corresponding feeding value. In the 

 case of maize, over 80 per cent of the fat or oil is contained in 

 the embryo, and the rest nearly equally divided between the 

 pericarp and the endosperm. 



The following is the distribution of the ether-extract or fat 

 in the grain of a medium protein-content maize, as determined 

 by Hopkins (3) : — 



Table XCIII. 

 DISTRIBUTION OF FAT IN MAIZE. 



" The germ [embryo] contains from 80 to 84 per cent of the 

 oil while all other parts combined contain only 15 to 20 per 

 cent of the total oil in the kernel. Based upon this fact is the 

 method for selecting high oil or low oil seed-corn by mechanical 



