438 
USES OF THE HOUSE.CHESTNUT. 
In 1778, Parmentier, in the investigation which he set on foot at the request of the 
States of Languedoc, on the alimentary resources of Prance, placed the horse-chestnut 
at the head of the list of vegetable products capable of being utilized for the support 
of man. 
Somewhat later, in 1795, Baume directed also prominent attention to this fruit ; 
and in the complete treatise which he published on the horse-chestnut, and its use as 
food, he proposed, for depriving it of its bitterness, first to peel them, and subse¬ 
quently to treat the pulp by repeated washings in alcohol; but this could scarcely be 
employed profitably on a large scale, and at the same time. Parmentier (‘ Cours 
d’Agriculture,’ t. viii. p. 202) pointed out that water could be employed with equal 
advantage in the place of spirits. 
The experience of M. Calmus, in a memoir presented to the Societe d’Encourage- 
ment of Paris, also fully demonstrated that it was quite superfluous to seek to deprive 
the chestnuts of their bitterness by means of agents more or less costly than simple 
washing in water. M. Calmus, in the memoir alluded to, proposed to utilize the 
water in which the fruit had been washed for lixiviating and bleaching linen, the husk 
or perisperm for tanning, and the marc or residue for fattening poultry and domestic 
animals. 
Notwithstanding these well-known facts, M. Elandin pointed out in 1849 (‘ Comptes 
Rendus,’ t. xxvii. p. 349) a method of removing the bitterness from horse-chestnut 
starch, by mixing with. 100 kilogrammes of pulp one or two kilogrammes of carbonate 
of soda; then washing in several waters, and afterwards straining. The product thus 
obtained was mixed with other farinaceous substances, and constituted, according to 
M. Elandin, another food resource. It is probable that the employment of the soda 
was recommended by Hischermist, because in summer the washing-water of the fecula 
acidifies very quickly, and leads to the formation of a certain quantity of dextrine, 
which involves a notable loss of starch. 
But although the removal of this bitter principle is indispensable when the starch 
is intended for alimentation, it is quite unnecessary if the starch is to be used for in¬ 
dustrial or manufacturing purposes. Parmentier, in proposing to employ horse- 
chestnut starch to supply the place of paste made with food grains, very justly re¬ 
marks that it has the advantage of not being attacked by insects on account of its bit¬ 
terness ; and bookbinders and makers of pasteboard frequently mix in their paste 
some aloes, with the object of keeping off* insects and mould. It has been suggested 
by Parmentier and others that the fruit might also be utilized for its potash. The 
chestnuts are dried and burnt, and the salt obtained by lixiviating the ashes. Or, if 
preferred, the ashes may be employed direct in bleaching linen. Mercandier, in his 
‘ Treatise on Hemp,’ states that in Switzerland, and in some parts of France, they em¬ 
ploy the water in which horse-chestnuts have been boiled for bleaching hemp, flax, and 
other fabrics, and it also supplies the place of soap. 
For a great number of years M. Xlose, of Berlin, has operated on a large scale on 
the horse-chestnut, and obtained the following products:— 
1. From the burnt pericarp an alkaline ley. 
2. From the skin or husk of the peach the episperm, a very fine charcoal, which 
forms the base of different printing inks. 
3. From the amylaceous pulp is extracted the fecula, which can be transformed into 
dextrine, glucose, alcohol, or vinegar, and which are all adapted to industrial use. 
4. The fatty matter extracted serves to make a kind of soap, and to render certain 
mineral colours more fixed and solid. 
5. A yellow colouring-matter which serves for different purposes. 
In 1833, M. Vergnaud, of Romagnesi, contributed a very interesting paper on the 
horse-chestnuts and its products to the 28th volume of the ‘Recueil Industriel’ of 
Paris. 
Twenty-seven essays on the horse-chestnut were sent in to the Belgian Commission 
in 1856, in competition for the premium for the best substitute for edible substances 
for starch for industrial purposes, but they contained very little new matter, and were 
for the most part a repetition of previous information and experiments. 
The use of the horse-chestnut was commenced on a large scale in France in 1855 
by M. de Callias, and is still continued. He operated, as we have seen, on more than 
twenty million kilogrammes annually.— The Technologist. 
