INDIAN CORN. 377 



hoods remote from railroads it furnishes a cheap and ex- 

 cellent article of fuel ; oil is distilled from it to light up the 

 houses; whiskey to sicken the well and to cure the sick; alco- 

 hol, without which the druggist would be disarmed, comes 

 from this precious grain. Beer, malt, and various other cool- 

 ing and medicinal preparations, take the place of milk, and the 

 foreign adulterated poisons under the names of wine and 

 ales. Even the cobs are of important use in the manufac- 

 ture of vinegar and in the making of pipes. The tassels 

 give a fine addition to the vases that adorn our rooms. 



It is cooked in more ways than any other food. It is parched 

 and in this way is extensively used by travelers in India 

 and other Eastern countries. It is cooked, when green, on 

 the cob by boiling, or baking, or roasting, or is cut of and 

 fried or made into the most delicious puddings. Cracked 

 and deprived of its siliceous coating when dry, it makes the 

 hominy of commerce. Deprived of its coating by lye, 

 and left in whole grain, it makes lye hominy. Crushed 

 into angular particles, resembling in size and shape gun- 

 powder, it becomes grits. Ground up finer it makes the 

 meal that is used by the people of half the continent of 

 North America, making the corn cakes, batter cakes, hoe 

 cake, johnny cake, ash cake and mush of the Southern 

 States ; the tortilla of the Mexican, the stirabout of Ireland 

 and the Polenta of the Italians. 



The Kaffirs have recently substituted maize in the place 

 of millet as food, and its consumption in Great Britian and 

 on the continent is increasing every year. The large pro- 

 portion of carbonaceous substances which it contain makes it 

 more stimulating than wheat. As a food it is not so pala- 

 table as wheat, but its possibilities are far in excess, and for 

 cheapness there is much in favor of maize. 



We all remember when, in 1846, the famine devastated 

 Ireland by the potatoe rot, maize rushed to the rescue and 

 saved millions of people from starvation. Even now, some 

 philanthropists are trying to introduce it into general use 



