MISCELLANY. 
Ammonia in the manufacture of Starch, and Farinaceous matters. By 
Joseph Nash. — I take the liberty to request your publication of the fol- 
lowing discovery, which I have made, about three years since, and 
which I conceive will be found very useful to the public: — 
In some experiments which I made on the process of making starch, 
and preparing farinaceous matters for purposes of food, I found that, for 
all the purposes of practical operation, liquid ammonia is the best agent 
for the purpose of dissolving gluten coloring and astringent matters, 
leaving only the fibre and the starch unchanged, and which, after wash- 
ing two or three times, may be easily separated by the usual process of 
straining through a fine sieve, and drying as usually practised. The 
best degree of strength for use is sp gr. 0.965, and it is superior to caustie 
soda or potash, as strong solutions of them act powerfully on the starch, 
while the ammonia produces no change in it, however long it may be 
kept in operation. It may be applied also in the gaseous way, by pass- 
ing the ammoniacal gas through refrigeratory apparatus into vessels 
containing any kind of farinaceous matters, such as wheat, rice, peas, 
bruised potatoes, or such like matters ; and in this case the ammonia 
from gas-liquors may be used by adding lime and distilling the vapors 
from them, as it is not necessary to use a perfectly pure ammonia for all 
the purposes of making starch ; but the ammonia may be obtained from 
any known source. The ammonia, when saturated with gluten, may 
be obtained again by distillation, and used over again, and the gluten 
may then be applied to purposes of food, or any other purpose to which 
it may be found applicable; as an improvement in food it will be found 
highly useful, as the inferior kinds of rice, peas, and such like matter, 
after being steeped in ammonia for a few hours, and then well washed, 
will be found equal to those of the best quality. Close vessels are the 
best for conducting the operation, and in some cases a low degree of 
heat may be used without any injury, but it is not absolutely necessary, 
as the cold operation is sufficient for all practical purposes. 
It is also an improvement to add a little ammonia to starch as a fin- 
ishing process, however the starch may have been obtained, whether 
by the usual process of fermentation or by the use of dilute solutions of 
