386 CORN 



The chemical composition of hominy and cerealine as given by Dr. 

 Robert Hutchinson, is as follows: 



Both of the preparations above discussed are of a high nutritive 

 value and admirably adapted for making puddings, etc. In this capac- 

 ity, it is used considerably in the Orient. In our own country, it is 

 usually served by cooking in milk, much the same as sweet corn. 



Corn Flour, Maizena, Oswego. Corn flour, maizena and oswego 

 are prepared from maize by washing away the proteid and fat by 

 means of dilute alkaline solutions, so that little but starch is left. 

 Church states that corn flour contains only i8 grains of proteid in 

 every pound, and a sample of "Brown and Ralston's" corn flour, ac- 

 cording to Dr. Robert Hutchinson, contained but a mere trace of 

 nitrogen in the form of proteid. 



The following is an analysis of maizena, as given by Klemperer in 

 Leyden's "Handbuch der Ernahrung Sterapie," page 298 : 



Water 14.3 per cent. 



Proteid 5 " 



Carbohydrates 84.9 " 



Mineral Matter 3 



These preparations must therefore be regarded simply as agree- 

 able forms of starch, well adapted for food, provided they are taken 

 along with some proteid and fat carrier, such as eggs or fatty meats. 

 Such starchy preparations, however, cannot be considered as econom- 

 ical, no matter what the source, because they are a very unbalanced 

 ration. 



Maize, as we have considered it in any of the forms discussed, is a 

 highly nutritive cereal. It also has the added advantage of being very 

 well digested in the human body. Experiments show that 90 per cent 

 of its dry matter is absorbed, as compared with 82 per cent in the case 

 of wheat. Of the protein of maize, but 19.2 per cent escapes absorp- 

 tion ; in wheat, about 20 per cent is lost. 



Maize is an economical food. It has been calculated that when 

 maize and wheat are both selling at the same price per bushel, the 

 same amount of digestible matter in each is purchased for the same 

 expenditure of money. In wheat, however, there would be 2j^ pounds 



