3d. Its action as a ferment.

The action of saltwater is explained as follows: When the berry is plunged
into pure water it will be observed that the water penetrates in the course
of a few hours to the very center of the endosperm, but if water charged
or saturated with sea salt be used, it will be seen that the liquid
immediately passes through the teguments Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5, and stops
abruptly before the embryo membrane No. 6, which will remain quite dry and
brittle for several days, the berry remaining all the time in the
water. Should the water penetrate further after several days, it can be
ascertained that the entrance was gained through the part No 10 free of
this tissue, and this notwithstanding the cells are full of fatty bodies.
This membrane alone produces this action, for if the coatings Nos. 2, 3, 4,
and 5 be removed, the resistance to the liquid remains the same, while if
the whole, or a portion of it, be divided, either by friction between two
millstones or by simple incisions, the liquid penetrates the berry within
a few hours. This property is analogous to that of the radicules of roots,
which take up the bodies most suitable for the nourishment of the plant. It
proves, besides, that this membrane, like all those endowed with life, does
not obey more the ordinary laws of permeability than those of chemical
affinity, and this property can be turned to advantage in the preservation
of grain in decortication and grinding.

To determine the action of this tissue through its presence, take 100
grammes of wheat, wash it and remove the first coating by decortication;
then immerse it for several hours in lukewarm water, and dry afterwards in
an ordinary temperature. It should then be reduced in a small coffee mill,
the flour and middlings separated by sifting and the bran repassed through
a machine that will crush it without breaking it; then dress it again, and
repeat the operation six times at least. The bran now obtained is composed