Rensselaer Republican, Volume 26, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 July 1894 — The Science of Pop Corn. [ARTICLE]

The Science of Pop Corn.

In what condition is the starch}' in-; terior of the grain just before it ox-: plodes? The common experience of the kitchen and laundry will help us I here. In making the mixture for stiffening clothes, the laundress puts starch into water and boils it, and wo' all know that in '"this process thestarch loses its powderly character and' becomes blended with the water into a' pasty, translucent mass. The effect, upon the individual starch-granule is ai softening and considerable increase! of its bulk and, finally, its ruptureq and diffusion through the water.; While we cannot see the inside of the! grain at the critical moment when it has all .but burst, we may, in view of what we now know, probably surmise the-truth. It is not very likely l that, as the grain gets hotter and hotter, and the moisture present ini the cells, or in the stdrch granules; themselves, softens them first, and : then, when the heat becomes too groat’ to permit its remaining in the fluid; state, it suddenly turns to steam, and; the now plastic ihsrch exp inds in every, direction, forming the vesicles shown in the figure, losing at the same time, of course, the moisture and thqs becoming firm and brittle again? This! is the conclusion to which I have been' brought, and I think of wonderful phys-; ics of popped corn with-great satisfac-' lion whenever I shake my popper over glowing coals. — —s——— There are only two royal scientists living at the present time worthy of the name. Ono is Prince Albert, of Monaco, well known for his deep sea ro marches, and the other is the Archduke Ludwip Salvator, of Austria, a couragopi|s traveler, and a by ne means contemptible natura hL