August 1, 1864. J THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



USES OF THE HORSE-CHESTNUT. 35 



In March, 1776, Lord Wm. Murray obtained a patent for extracting 

 starch, from horse-chestnuts, which was merely by peeling them, 

 grating the nuts, washing the pulp several times, and baking it or 

 drying it. 



Various attempts have been made to utilize them by producing sugar 

 and spirit from them ; and on removal of the bitter principle, excellent 

 edible fecula and maccaroni have been made from horse-chestnuts in 

 France. 



" Fecule de marrons d'Inde " is now made by H. de Callias, sold at 

 twenty-two francs the kilo, 18 Rue de Bellevue, Passy, near Paris. 

 The process adopted by this maker permits the purifying of the fecula 

 without having recourse to the peeling which was formerly considered 

 indispensable, and hence the extraction of the starch is as easy and 

 cheap as that from the potato. The following is given as the cost : — 



Francs. 



Collection of 20,001) kilogrammes of horse- 

 chestnuts in the park of St. Cloud . . 400 



Conveyance to the factory of the Abbey de 

 Val (Seine et Oise), belonging to Mr. 

 Becappe 280 



Manufacture and total other charges . . 200 



880 



Horse-chestnuts are much used on the Continent, especially in the 

 Rhine districts, for fattening cattle and for feeding milch cows. Herm- 

 stadt gives the following analysis of a sample dried in the air, and with 

 21-8 per cent, of the shell removed : — 



Starch 35-42 



Flour fibre 1978 



Albumen 17-19 



Bitter extract 11-45 



Oil 1-21 



Gum 13-54 



Total 98-57 



Pabet estimates that 100 lb. of dried horse-chestnuts are equal in 

 nutritive value to ] 50 lb. of average hay. Another authority, Petri, 

 makes them equal, weight for weight, to oatmeal. 



The starch obtained from the horse-chestnut is white, and when 

 thoroughly washed, perfectly free from any bitterness. They yield 

 29 to 30 per cent., and sometimes nearly 35 per cent., and contain 

 besides a glutinous matter which, according to Liebig, possesses emi- 

 nently nutritive properties, but, which experience proves, very inferior 

 to the gluten of cereals. Adopting the analysis of M. Chevallier and 

 M. Lefrage, 17 per cent, may be taken as the mean yield of starch with 



