_
tSbe Conservative *
'from linseed oil may turn yellow as
the air acts on it.
Rubber Out Of Indian Corn.
On Dr. Wagner's table is a block
apparently ofrubber , the shape and
size of a building brick. . It has all
the outward characteristics of India
rubber , even , to the odor. It was
, never near n. rubber tree , and was
probably grown in Kansas or Iowa ,
for it was made of corn oil squeezed
out of the germs. The oil lias under
gone a sulphur treatment and a-bak-
ing , and the rubber substitute results.
Drop the brick on the floor and it re
bounds as if it were the product"from
the tropics , and one must know some
thing about the natural rubber to de
tect any difference in the two mater
ials. The main point in favor of corn
rubber is that it can bo sold for about
one-tenth .the price of Para rubber ,
which costs about a dollar a pound.
The corn rubber can bo used in rubber
*
boots , bicycle tires , sheet rubber ,
'STARCH '
GLOTEN
GERM
THE CONSTITUENTS OA KERNEL OF
MAIZE.
water proofing , rubber heels , linoleum
leum in nearly all classes of rubber
goods. Its greatest use is probably
in machinery , as in packing for
valves. The fact that corn oil" is not
I affected by the air , again proves of
value , for its rubber products resist
j- ' oxidization , remain pliable and 'do not
- orack as do most of the rubber substi
tutes made from vegetable oils. Even
pure rubber oxidizes , while a mixture
of half India rubber and half corn
rubber remains soft.
0f course , there is no danger yet of
the corn rubber driving into bank
ruptcy the men who are growing rub
ber trees , for the corn oil product
lacks the tensile elasticity of the Para
rubber ; that is , it will not stretch
and resume its original form as the
natural rubber does. When it comes
to compression , however , it seems to
possess the qualities of the natural
' '
rubber. '
J The oil is also used for cattle feed
ing in corn oil cake , of which it
'forms about ten per cent. Little of
this is.fedj * ) American stock , most of
it going to Hamburg and Antwerp to
bo fed" ; into European cattle. In fact ,
Europe is a heavy consumer of corn
oil and every 'year demands more.
The first big shipments were in 1899 ,
when Europe took $888,000 worth.
The next year the export reached'a
valueof $ lf-598,000 and last year it
was $2,045,000. In the last five mouths
the Glucose Syrup Refining company
alone has sent .nearly a million del
lars' worth of corn oil to Europe , ex
clusive of. .the United Kingdom. To
the American it's a strange use the
foreigners make of this oil most of
it goes into soft soap. Nearly all the
continental people use soft soap in
stead of that in bars , such as Ameri
cans1 manufacture. Vegetable i oils
enter largely in the manufacture of
soft soap and the Europeans find corn
oil- the most satisfactory , despite its
price of $23 a barrel. The chemists of
the corn products companies have suc
ceeded in "doglycoriuating''the corn
oil , taking out the glycerine and fatty
matter and making-it available for
use in American soap and a now field
is in sight.
Would Enlarge the Germ. *
* >
The germ from which the corn oil
is made has become so valuable that
the endeavor now is to grow corn con
taining larger germs than the ordinary
maize. To this end experiments are
conducted at the farm of the Univer
sity of Illinois4 and in a few years
seed corn with enlarged germs maybe
ready for the farmer.
Thopsize of the kernel considered ,
the principal constituent of corn is
the starch. To extract that 'the
shelled corn is placed in vats , about a
thousand bushels of corn to 8,000 gallons
lens of water. In the water is a very
small proportion of sulphuric acid ,
just enough to soften' the kernel ,
loosen the gluteuous matter and free
the germ. After thirty or forty hours
the water is drawn off to be evaporat
ed , so that any of the corn it has ab
sorbed may bo recovered. In former
years this water was wasted , now 'the
phosphates and albumeuoids in it
amount to from one to one and one-
half pounds to a bushel of corn that
has been soaked. It is then mixed
with'the by-products which sell as
cattle feed. This one point of saving
is said to mean % 'million dollars a
year to the concerns * controlled by the
Corn Products company.
The mass left behind after the
water was drained off is run through
mills , taking off the hulls , breaking
up the glutenous matter and freeing
the conns. How the germs are taken
out of-the mass has been told. The
gluten , starch and hull are ground
fine a'nd passed over silk bolting cloth.
The hull or bran remains on top ,
but the starch and gluten pass
through. The gluten and starch get
another bath and the starch , being the
heavier , remains behind.The starch
is now in solid form and after the
last water is dried out the product is
ready for the market.
In that state it may be used in the
laundry , brewery or confectionery ,
or sold in the same can with baking
powder , but it stands a good chance
of staying in the factory and under
going changes that will make it grape
sugar , glucose or dextrine.
Paste , Dyes and Candy. '
1 D.extrines are gums or paste. To
make lof starch a substitute for gum
arabic it is treated with nitric acid
and then baked. As , dextrine. the
starch fixes dyes and colors on fab-
lies , particularly calico , and also
may be used in paper boxes , oilcloth ,
ink , wall paperfor gumming envelo
pes' and stamps , or wherever strong
adhesive paste is required. Confec
tioners use it as a substitute for na
tural gums and for coating candy ,
and pharmacists find it valuable in
THOMAS KINGSFORD.
pepsin , emulsions , and in prepara
tion of surgical bandages.
Glucose and grape sugar "are the
greatest single derivatives of corn
sjtarch. Thirty years ago practically
no glucose was produced in the United
States and now the exports amount to
eight or nine million dollars a year ,
and the foreign products made of
rice , wheat , potato and sago starches
can't compete at homo with the
American corn glucose.
A hundred years ago two German
chemists found sugar in the grape ,
and a few years later a Russian found
it in starch , and , moreover , found
starch sugar to be identical with grape
sugar. To make glucose or grape
sugar the starch is treated with mu
riatic acidand after pressure the acid
is neutralized by carbonate of soda.
The acid is affixed to the sodium ,
forming common salt , and every trace
of the carbonic acid remaining is
carried off. By varying temperature ,
pressure and degree of acidity a va
riety of sugars can bo produced.
When the acid treatment or "conver
sion" is carried to the farthest grape
sugar is produced. When the action