White oat—Long, sect., 2nd and 3rd coats not separable. a. Compound grains x 100; b. One do. x 500.
A large proportion of the oats given to horses passes off undigested. It has hence been proposed to prevent this loss, by either coarsely bruising them in a mill, or by pouring boiling water over them, and allowing them to macerate till cold, when they are to be given to the horses without straining off the water. It is stated on good authority that oats thus treated will not only fatten quicker, but go twice as far as without preparation.
Oat bruisers are now manufactured by most agricultural implement makers.
Under the microscope the oat is seen to consist of two or three envelopes; the outer being composed of longitudinal cells; the second obliquely transverse and not very clearly seen; in this, the cells are wanting in part or pass into the cells of the third coat; the third envelope consists of a layer, usually single, of cells, like wheat. Before the envelopes are searched for the husks must be removed. The starch-cells are small, many sided, and cohere into round composite bodies, which are very characteristic, and which, by pressure, may be divided into separate grains. A high power is necessary for the examination of these latter. The starch of the oat does not polarise light.
OAT′MEAL. Syn. Avenæ farina, F. ex seminibus avenæ (Ph. D), L.
Oatmeal is the grain of the oat deprived of the skin, kiln-dried, and afterwards ground. It is regarded as one of the most nutritious of our cereals, being rich in nitrogenous matter, fat, starch, and sugar. According to Letheby it contains in 100 parts:—
| Nitrogenous matter | 12·6 |
| Carbo-hydrates | 63·8 |
| Fatty matter | 5·6 |
| Saline matter | 3·0 |
| Water | 15·0 |
| ——— | |
| 100·0 |
Kreusler has shown that the nitrogenous principle of oatmeal contains gluten-casein, a substance very similar to the legumin of peas and beans. Letheby points out that, although it contains more nutrient material than wheat, its higher price renders it less economical as an article of diet. Oatmeal forms the staple of the food of the farm labourer both in Scotland and in England, being consumed more largely by the Scotch than the English peasant. Scotch oatmeal is superior to English in nutritive value. Oatmeal, when mixed with water, does not possess sufficient tenacity to enable it to be made into bread. It can, however, be baked into excellent cakes, which, when made in Yorkshire, are leavened, and when in Scotland, unleavened.
The qualities of indigestibility and a tendency to produce irritability of the bowels and skin, have been ascribed to oatmeal; before it was so prepared as to effectually remove from it the husk and hairs by efficient screening, it was in Scotland a frequent source of intestinal concretion. These concretions, the nature of which was unravelled by Dr Wollaston, consisted principally of phosphate of lime mixed with the hairs and husks of the oat.