6 BULLETIN 904, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
end of the vat. Most of the germs float on the surface and over the 
edge of the vat at one end. The bulk of the germ material is thus 
removed, but in the larger plants the remaining material is put 
through another floating vat and additional germs are separated. 
The germs, together with a lot of starchy water, are then run through 
reels having perforated copper sides, with the perforations about 
14 mm. in diameter. Here they are thoroughly washed to remove 
all starchy particles. The washings from these reels are run through 
a second set of reels having finer perforations, which catch the small 
germ fragments that passed through the first reel. The quantity of 
germ material thus recovered is very considerable. 
The corn material, which because of its greater gravity remains 
in the floating vats, is ground wet, and the starchy material 1s reduced 
to a fine condition. Itis then sieved and washed repeatedly. These 
starch washings, together with those from the germ reels, are run 
over long shallow ta- 
bles,wherethestarch 
is allowed to settle. 
The process there- 
after isoneof drying, 
but in the case of 
boiling starches the 
drying is preceded 
by chemical treat- 
ment. 
The husk and bran 
< from which the 
Fic. 5.—Machine for wet degerminating. In this machine one plate St arch h as b een 
is stationary. washed are run 
through moisture expellers to remove part of the moisture and 
are then mixed or churned with the concentrated steep water from 
the steeping vats. This water, which contains considerable quan- 
tities of water-soluble proteins, is previously pumped into a vacuum 
tank and evaporated under reduced pressure. The evaporation is 
accomplished under a vacuum of about 26 inches, part of which is 
obtained by passing all the waste water of the plant through a 
special attachment, like a Venturi tube. The higher vacuum is 
secured with a power pump. As above stated, this proteim water, 
to which is also added in some plants the gluten which tabled out 
at the lower end of the starch settling tables, is mixed with the feed 
material and the mixture pumped through filter presses. The press 
cakes from these filters are broken up by running them through 
mills. The material is then sent through driers. These driers are 
also used for drying the germs and will be described in that connec- 
tion. After becoming partially dry the material, which has become 
