CORN MEAL 333 



real value of this form of meal as compared with the commercial form 

 commonly found upon the market. Whole corn meal includes the 

 germ, which contains 82 per cent of the entire oil content of the ker- 

 nel, thus adding considerably to the food value. 



Corn Meal as a Food. Corn or maize meal is prepared as food in 

 many different ways. In Ireland, it is made into a sort of porridge 

 called "stirabout," or in the more expressive phraseology of America, 

 "mush." In Northern Italy and South Tyrol it is prepared in a sim- 

 ilar way, but with the addition of cheese and other ingredients. Maize 

 meal or corn meal is made as above stated, by removing the hull and 

 germ. A white and yellow meal is prepared, the former in greater 

 quantities because its color is more attractive to the purchaser. In 

 food value, however, there is no difference. Fine maize meal is more 

 gritty than wheat flour, but when mixed with the latter, its presence 

 can hardly be detected. The comparative cheapness of maize flour is 

 an inducement to millers to adulterate wheat flour with it, and this is 

 already being done to some extent in America and France. Flour so 

 adulterated yields fewer loaves than an equal quantity of pure wheat 

 flour, and the bread produced is more moist than wheat bread and has 

 a tendency to be sodden. An addition of 10 per cent of maize flour 

 is calculated to mean a reduction of five loaves on the sack. Owing 

 to the absence of gluten, this meal cannot be used to make ordinary 

 bread, but it is often baked into cakes of various sorts. The "johnny" 

 (corruption of journey) cakes of North America are unleavened and 

 are made of a rather coarse maize meal. Similar cakes constitute the 

 "tortilla" of South America and Mexico. The following is the com- 

 position of the "johnny" cakes, analysis by Atwater and Wood: 



Water 38.0 per cent. 



Proteid 8.5 " 



Fat 2.7 " 



Carbohydrates 47.3 " 



Mineral Matter 3.5 



Comparing this with white bread, we find the nutritive value to 

 be greater in the case of the "johnny" cake. 



An analysis of wheat bread by Dr. Robert Hutchinson, of the Lon- 

 don Hospital, is as follows: 



Water 40.0 per cent. 



Proteid 6.5 " 



Fat i.o " 



Starch, Sugar and Dextrine 51.2 " 



Cellulose 3 



Mineral Matter i.o " 



