Bran, the husky covering which separates from grain when it is ground and bolted. Rye and wheat bran contain different proportions of constituents, as is shown by the following analyses by Oudemans and Poggiale:

Payen found that the gluten in the grain increased in quantity from its centre toward the outer covering, thus showing that the removal of the husk must abstract a part of the most nutritious portion. Bread made of unbolted flour is often used as a laxative article of diet in dyspepsia. In France and Germany it is the common food of the peasantry, and among no people are complaints of indigestion more rare. It has been found by experiment that dogs can live on bran bread, though they cannot on flour bread. But according to Poggiale, when animals are fed on it they rapidly lose flesh; this may be caused by its too irritating properties when fed alone. Mixed with all the flour, it probably yields considerable nutriment. It contains the nitrogenous principle cerealine, analogous to diastase, possessing the property of changing starch into dextrine and grape sugar. - Calico printers remove the non-mordanted colors from maddered goods by boiling them in bran water. Dyers use bran in making the "sour water" for preparing their dyes.