WHAT IS STARCH? -- HOW MANUFACTURED? -- COMPOSITION OF WHEAT FLOUR
-- ACIDS -- ALKALIES -- SULPHURIC, NITRIC, AND MURIATIC ACIDS --
SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN -- TANNING OF HIDES TO FORM LEATHER -- VINEGAR
-- ALCOHOL -- YEAST -- FRUIT, HOW PRESERVED -- DECAY IN WOOD -- WHAT
IS ETHER? -- DISINFECTING AGENTS -- HOW SMOKING PRESERVES MEAT --
WHAT IS ALBUMEN? -- WHAT IS A POISON? -- ARSENIC -- CERTAINTY OF ITS
DETECTION -- LEAD PIPES, HOW POISON WATER -- VERDIGRIS -- CALOMEL --
PRESERVATION OF WOOD -- COMMON NAMES OF CHEMICALS
_What is starch?_
The name starch is given to a _mealy substance_ which is deposited in
_most vegetables_ at the time of ripening, from the juices with which
the cells of the plants are filled.
_What common vegetable especially abounds in starch?_
The _potato_, which consists entirely of cells filled with starch and
water.
A cell is a little membranous bladder filled with a solid or fluid
substance.
_Why does a laundress find it necessary to boil starch before using
it for stiffening linen, etc.?_
The starch, consisting of little granules, is _insoluble in cold water_;
but when acted upon by hot water, the granules burst and allow their
contents, which are soluble, to become mingled with the water.