Am.  Jour.  Ptiarm. 
July,  1888. 
Maize  Oil. 
325 
MAIZE  OIL  (OIL  OF  CORN)^ 
By  J.  U.  Lloyd. 
It  is  well  known  that  Indian  corn  contains  considerable  quantities 
of  fixed  oilj  and  some  years  ago  endeavors  were  made  to  separate  this 
oil  from  the  ground  corn  before  it  was  mashed  in  the  making  of 
whisky.  The  writer  remembers  that  the  late  John  Crawford,  well 
known  as  a  Cincinnati  pharmacist,  embarked  in  a  venture  with  this 
object  in  view  and  some  twelve  years  ago  established  a  factory  in 
Kentucky  opposite  the  city  of  Cincinnati  for  the  purpose  of  making 
bisulphide  of  carbon,  which  was  used  as  solvent  to  remove  the  oil. 
The  meal  was  percolated  with  this  bisulphide  of  carbon,  whereby  the 
fixed  oil  was  removed,  and  the  bisulphide  of  -  carbon  was  afterward 
recovered  by  distillation. 
It  was  thought  by  Mr.  Crawford  that  the  cornmeal  so  treated 
yielded  a  larger  amount  of  whisky  and  of  finer  quality  than  when  the 
crude  meal  was  worked.  However,  after  devoting  some  years  to  this 
industry  and  establishing  the  carbon  process  in  several  sections  of  the 
country  in  connection  with  distilleries,  it  was  found,  I  think,  that  ob- 
jections rendered  it  impracticable  and  that  the  advantages  derived 
from  the  process  were  more  than  overcome  by  the  disadvantages  that 
followed.  In  consequence,  if  I  remember  correctly,  even  before  Mr. 
Crawford^s  death,  the  schemes  were  dropped  and  the  industries  aband- 
oned. 
It  has  been  found  in  the  making  of  starch  and  perhaps  in  other  di- 
rections as  well,  that  it  is  desirable  to  get  rid  of  the  germs  of  the  corn, 
as  for  reasons  that  it  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  mention,  this  germ  is 
objectionable  in  these  manipulations. 
In  order  to  accomplish  the  last  result  a  machine  has  been  devised 
that  degerminizes  the  corn,  throwing  the  hard  starchy  part  of  the  corn 
in  one  direction  and  separating  the  germs  in  another,  and  this  method 
can  be,  and  is  applied  to  the  making  of  starch  in  large  quantities  and 
is  found  to  be  of  great  assistance  and  advantage. 
Naturally,  there  was  an  accumulation  of  these  excluded  germs, 
which  as  is  well  known,  constitute  a  considerable  proportion  of  the 
-corn,  and  they  became  a  by-product.    They  were  found  to  be  valu- 
^  Read  at  the  meeting  of  the  Ohio  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Columbus, 
June,  1888  ;  contributed  by  the  Author. 
