784 MAIZE 



CHAP, said to have largely replaced potato-starch in the preparation 

 ' of commercial laundry starch [Bowman and Cross/ey, 1). 



The Amylum, or Starch of materia medica, is officially 

 described in the United States pharmacopoeia as " the fecula 

 of the seed of Zea Mays Linn6 (Nat. Ord. Gramineas)," 

 and in the British pharmacopoeia as " the starch procured from 

 the grains of common wheat, Triticum sativum Linn., maize, 

 Zea Mays Linn., and rice, Oryza sativa Linn." 



" The granules of maize starch are very small, with a 

 diameter not exceeding — according to Payen — one-sixth of 

 that of the potato, and little more than one-half of that 

 of the wheat granules. They have a very distinct hilum, but 

 no evident concentric striae. . . . Starch is nutritive and de- 

 mulcent, but in its ordinary form is seldom administered in- 

 ternally. Powdered and dusted on the skin it is sometimes 

 used to absorb irritating secretions and prevent excoriation. 

 Dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, it is often employed 

 in enemata, either as a vehicle or as a demulcent application in 

 irritated states of the rectum. It may be used as an antidote 

 to iodine" (Wood, Remington, and Sadtler, 1). 



Starch is prepared from maize grain by soaking the latter 

 until soft, in a warm solution of sulphurous acid, when it is 

 ground into meal in running water : the hulls float on the 

 surface and are removed by sieving through silk ; the o-erms 

 sink to the bottom, and the water, carrying the gluten and 

 starch in suspension, passes on through long " settling-troughs," 

 in which the heavier starch settles to the bottom while the 

 gluten floats on. The various by-products thus separated are 

 dried and sold separately or variously combined. The starch 

 obtained from the settling-troughs is known as "green starch ". 

 The " green starch " is treated in different ways for various 

 manufactured products. The starch by-products together con- 

 stitute " gluten feed " ; separately they are known as " sugar 

 feed," "dried starch," " wet starch feed," " wet glucose feed," 

 etc. (ir 671, chap. XIV.). In the process of manufacture the 

 addition of one part of water changes starch into cane sugar ; 

 cane sugar, by the addition of one part of water, becomes 

 glucose. By heating to 280° Fahr., in the presence of dilute 

 nitric acid, green starch is converted into dextrine, or by treat- 

 ment with dilute hydrochloric acid (or sulphuric acid with a 



