REPORT OF THE CHEMIST. 



99 



arc known as first, second, and tbird germ. They consist of the germ of 

 the wheat mixed with Varying proportions of branny and starchy mat- 

 ter, the second being, the purest They all contain much ash, oil, and 

 nitrogen, and if allowed to be ground with the flour blacken it by the 

 presence of the oil and render it very liable to fermentation, owing to 

 the peculiar nitrogenous bodies which it carries. A more complete 

 analysis appears in another place. 



The flour from the bran dusters is much like that from the tailings, 

 and like the stone stock, from a chemical point of view. This merely 

 shows that chemical evidence should not alone be taken into consid- 

 eration, for the bran-duster flour is a dirty, lumpy by-product, while the 

 stone stocks are valuable middlings. Analyses of various tailings are 

 next in the series, and need no comment. Those of the dust from 

 middlings and dust catchers are rather surprising, in that they both 

 contain much gluten and the first one much fiber, but this is due to 

 their containing both bran and endosperm. 



To follow the gluten through the process it is necessary to go back to 

 the breaks. The amount in the various chops does not vary greatly. 

 There is an apparent anomaly, however, in the fifth and sixth breaks, 

 where no gluten was found in the feed, but much in the chop. This is 

 owing to the fact that the feed has become at this poiut in the process 

 so branny that by the usual method of washing to obtain the gluten it 

 does not "allow of its uniting in a coherent mass and separating from 

 the bran. 



Among the middlings, both uncleaned and cleaned, the fourth is the 

 richest in gluten, and the result of the process of cleaning is to increase 

 the amount, although slightly diminishing the nitrogen, which is due to 

 the removal of the branny matter, which, though rich in nitrogen, is 

 poor in gluten. 



In the products of the reduction on smooth rolls, the chops from the 

 higher middlings are the richest, and if the analyses of the flours- were 

 complete, No. 4 would probably contain more than the lower numbers. 



The tailings are, as has been already said, remarkable, not so much 

 that No. 1 has no gluten, but that Nos. 2, 3, and 4 have 7.C2 percent., and 

 No. 6 as much as 14.37 per cent. The regular increase shows that the 

 highest numbers must contain a large portion of endosperm. 



That this is the case the microscopic examination of the different 

 tailings has shown. No. 1 is found to consist almost entirely of the outer 

 coatings of the grain ; Nos. 2, 3, and 4 of the same mixed with a large 

 proportion of endosperm, which is attached thereto, while in No. 6 it is 

 difficult to discover any large amount of anything but flouring material, 

 and the small percentage of ash shows also that it cannot contain much 

 bran. 



In a like manner No. 4 tailings from the reductions has 13.34 per cent, 

 of gluten, which is owing to the large proportion of endosperm which it 

 contains, and in this case, too, the fact of the presence of so much of 

 the interior of the berry is presaged by the low percentage of ash. Tho 

 remaining tailings of this class have little or no gluten, with the excep- 

 tion of No. 1, as they contain very little endosperm. 



In connection with the remaining specimens the gluten has been al- 

 ready mentioned, and the results as a whole warrant the conclusion 

 that less of it is wasted in the by-products than would be imagined. 

 For a complete discussion of this point data, which are not at hand, in 

 regard to the per cent, of each material produced, are necessary. 



The products from Virginia wheat, similar to those which have just 

 been described, present the same but not as wide variations in the 



