James Marshall

James Marshall, Ibrox Flour Mills, and 22, Adelphi Terrace.—

    The extraordinary success which has attended the introduction of those valuable farinaceous substances so widely known as “Marshall’s Preparations of Wheat”, is a notable instance of that unerring instinct in the public which so readily detects the fine merits and intrinsic value of articles which play such an important part in the economy of the household. The valuable testimony adduced by the medical profession as to the alimentary qualities of the productions of the house, and the analyses of the chemists in determining the exact proportions of their constituents, have done a great deal in establishing these valuable preparations in the confidence of the public. These preparations may be briefly and pithily described as “containing all the elements necessary for the sustenance and growth of the human frame”.

    Marshall’s Farola is a highly refined preparation of the best wheat. Mechanical means only are employed in its manufacture, so that the nutrition of the cereal and its natural fine flavour are unimpaired. All the coarser parts of the grain are removed, and its quintessence alone is retained. It is light and nutritious, pleasing to the most fastidious, and easily digested by the most delicate. It vies with the finest arrowroot in elegance and in delicacy of flavour, while it is beyond comparison superior to that and corn-flour as a wholesome and nourishing diet. It is peculiarly adapted for mixture with fruits in the making of blancmanges, Italian creams, &c. It is invaluable for infants as soon as their natural food requires supplementing, and during weaning time. It is also specially suited for the aged, and for of weak digestion. The medical press opinions are entirely favourable. “Farola is beautifully clear. The microscope shows it is pure wheat,” says the Lancet. “With milk Farola forms really exquisite puddings, and in the nursery dietary it will prove a valuable variety which children will take with avidity,” observes The Liverpool Medico-Chirurgical Journal. ‘‘Farola is a preparation of so exquisite a flavour that one is almost afraid to cook it in any way but the plainest for fear of spoiling it,” writes Mrs. Thwaites, lecturer on cookery.

    Marshall’s Semolina, perhaps the most widely known of his preparations, contains all the essential elements of the wheat grain without any crude or indigestible products being represented therein. It is practically as nutritious as bread of the best quality, while its special form enables it to he used in cookery in many ways and shapes impossible of attainment by bread, to say nothing of its agreeable taste and pleasant flavour. The Lancet says of it : “Marshall’s Semolina is entirely satisfactory. It is very well made, and analysis proves that it is absolutely free from adulteration. We regard it as a highly valuable form of food.” Marshall’s tritola is a large-sized and very fine quality of semolina, and when cooked naturally moulds itself into a firm yet friable shape that readily breaks down under the action of the digestive solvents, and is eminently fitted to repair the waste of the body. Professor T. Redwood says: “ Having made careful chemical and physical examination and analysis of Messrs. Marahall's Tritola, as produced at their works, Ibrox Flour Mills, Glasgow, I can certify to its being the pure farinaceous matter of the best description of wheat, in a form in which it retains unimpaired all the valuable constituents of the most valuable of cereal grains, and from which various articles of diet can be produced in their most palatable and efficacious condition. It yields to analysis—
                                          Hygroscopic moisture .     13.84
                                                        Fatty matter .     0.62
                                            Albuminous compounds   14.54
                            Starch and other carbohydrates       69.30
                                                            Cellulose         1.34
                                          Ash, rich in phosphates       0.36
                                                                               100-00

    Marshall’s Granola is a whole-meal semolina which contains albuminoids in unusually large proportion. Its granular condition makes it very convenient few use in puddings and porridge, and also adapts it admirably for mixing with soft flour for bread, scones, and biscuits. Marshall’s Ptyaloid is a pure vegetable digestive of starch, and is highly recommended by physicians for use in cases of weak digestion or debility, when the saliva is defective in the principle that makes starch soluble, converting it into grape sugar and enabling the system to assimilate it. The following is conclusive evidence of the excellence of this preparation : “ City Analytical Laboratory, 138, Bath Street, Glasgow, 18th November, 1886. I have made a careful chemical analysis of a sample of ‘ Ptyaloid,’ received on the 3rd inst., from Messrs. Marshall, Ibrox Flour Mills, and have found it to contain as follows —
                                    Hygroscopic moisture           9.71
                                                            Oil             0-93
                 Soluble albuminoids, including diastase     1.76
                                  Albuminoids, insoluble           4.44
                                                        Starch          72.57
                                      Maltose and Dextrin          9.44
                                               Vegetable Fibre      0.37
                                                                Ash       0.78
                                                                         100.00
    Phosphoric acid, per cent 0.22
    Nitrogen, per cent           0.992

    Ptyaloid is a fine white flour of fragrant odour and sweetish taste. When digested in water heated to about 160 F. the starch is rapidly converted into dextrin and maltose (malt sugar), and the whole dissolves, with the exception of about six per cent., consisting of insoluble aluminoids, vegetable fibre, and oil. It is also capable of rendering soluble a much larger amount of starch than that which it contains, and its great value for dietetic purposes consists in the action of its ‘diastase’ upon starch, rendering it soluble and easily digested. Thus, an invaluable article of diet for invalids and persons of weak digestive powers is a thick gruel of oat-flour, made with water or milk, to which, after it has cooled down a little, a teaspoonful or two of the Ptyaloid is added and well stirred in. In a few minutes the starch dissolves, and the gruel becomes thin and easily digested. It is more powerful in this respect than the extract of malt, and more rapidly applied ; and I find that it may, with advantage, be substituted for liquor pancreaticus, which is used for a similar purpose, while the taste of the product is much more agreeable than when liquor pancreaticus is used. It may also be applied, with good effect, to potato soup and other soups thickened by farinaceous substances, and to a great variety of articles of food. Signed, William Wallace”.

    Marshall’s wheat-grits and oat-flour are also very popular and in great demand. This firm, it may be mentioned, was awarded two gold medals for the superior quality and excellence of their wheat preparations in 1886, viz., at the Edinburgh and Liverpool Exhibitions. Mr. J. Marshall has also a warehouse at 24, Pimlico Road, London, S.W. The premises at No. 22, Adelphi Terrace comprise a large warehouse, packing and dispatch rooms, also a suite of well-appointed offices and counting-house. The business connections extend to all parts of the United Kingdom, and their goods are also exported.

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