OTHER USES OE THE MAIZE CROP 785 



limited amount of nitric acid) glucose is formed. The sul- chap 

 plume add is afterwards neutralized with chalk or marble xv "- 

 dust, and the hydrochloric acid with soda {Bowman and Cross- 



le y, 1). 



758. Dextrine.— Dextrine is a gummy substance into which 

 starch is convertible by diastase or by certain acids. It is 

 prepared from the " green starch " as it first comes from the 

 settling-troughs. Dextrine in various forms has a wide use in 

 sizing cloth and as a mordant or medium for conveying colours 

 in cloth and calico printing. It is used extensively in the 

 manufacture of paste and mucilage ; American postage stamps 

 are " gummed " with dextrine. It is also prepared in granular 

 form and used as a substitute for gum-arabic. 



"59. Corn Oil. — Corn oil is expressed from the embryo or 

 "germ" of the maize grain. It is used as a lubricant and 

 illummant ; for the mixing of paints and, to some extent also, 

 as a filler for certain animal oils. It has also been advertised 

 as a cheap substitute for cod-liver oil in cases of tuberculosis, 

 as a palatable and easily assimilated fat. The most important 

 part of the process of manufacture appears to be the deger- 

 mination of the grain. There are two systems of degermin- 

 ation, the wet and the dry. The extraction of the embryo is 

 said to be much more perfect in the wet than in the dry pro- 

 cess, but the latter is said to be considerably less expensive, 

 and is the one usually adopted. Messrs. Rose, Downs, and 

 Thompson, of Hull, England, who are manufacturers of deger- 

 minating plants, state that they have known cases where the 

 " germ," extracted by the wet process, has contained 52 per 

 cent of oil, whereas it usually contains about 20 per cent by the 

 dry process, showing that in the latter case a considerable 

 quantity of the endosperm or hull is removed with the 

 embryo. The embryo, after extraction, may be treated in 

 an ordinary Anglo-American mill or in a chemical extracting 

 plant. 



"60. Rubber Filler. — By vulcanizing maize oil, what appears 

 to be a satisfactory rubber " filler " is now manufactured. The 

 material is coarse in texture and is said to lack some of the 

 characteristics of real rubber, but it can be mixed with certain 

 proportions of the latter in the manufacture of articles where 

 durability, rather than great elasticity, is required. It is some- 



50 



