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Snack Foods
This page intentionally left blank
Snack Foods
Processing and Technology

SUVENDU BHATTACHARYA
Former Chief Scientist, CSIR-Central Food Technological
Research Institute, Mysore, India
Academic Press is an imprint of Elsevier
125 London Wall, London EC2Y 5AS, United Kingdom
525 B Street, Suite 1650, San Diego, CA 92101, United States
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Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and
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permission, further information about the Publisher’s permissions policies and our
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Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: www.elsevier.com/permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by
the Publisher (other than as may be noted herein).
Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and
experience broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices,
or medical treatment may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described
herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety
and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or
editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter
of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods,
products, instructions, or ideas contained in the material herein.
ISBN: 978-0-12-819759-2

For Information on all Academic Press publications

visit our website at https://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals

Publisher: Nikki Levy

Acquisitions Editor: Nina Bandeira
Editorial Project Manager: Catherine Costello
Production Project Manager: Sruthi Satheesh
Cover Designer: Matthew Limbert
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India
Dedicated to my wife Sila, and sons Nilabha and Rudram
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

Preface xvii

1. Introduction 1
1.1 Definition 3
1.2 Frequency of snack consumption 4
1.3 Classification of snack foods 5
1.4 Consumption of snack foods 7
1.5 Surveys on snack consumption 7
References 14

2. Grains and grain fractions 17

2.1 Introduction 17
2.2 Ingredients for snack foods 17
2.2.1 Cereals 28
2.2.2 Amaranth 60
2.2.3 Millets 60
2.2.4 Pulses 62
2.3 Conclusions 69
References 69

3. Root and tuber crops 75

3.1 Introduction 75
3.2 Raw materials and products 76
3.2.1 Potato 76
3.2.2 Cassava 88
3.2.3 Carrot 92
3.2.4 Sweet potato 92
3.2.5 Yam 92
3.3 Conclusions 92
References 93

4. Fruits and vegetables 95

4.1 Introduction 95
4.1.1 Fruit bars 95
4.1.2 Extruded fruit/vegetable-based snacks 99

vii
viii Contents

4.1.3 Fruit pulp and juices 100

4.1.4 Candied fruit 100
4.1.5 Fried vegetables 101
4.2 Mango 101
4.2.1 Mango powder 103
4.2.2 Mango leather and flake 103
4.3 Ash gourd 104
4.4 Papaya 105
4.5 Apple 106
4.6 Onion 107
4.6.1 Onion powder and rings 107
4.6.2 Onion paste 108
4.7 Garlic 109
4.8 Jalapeño 109
4.9 Capsicum and paprika 110
4.10 Chili 110
4.11 Banana and plantain 111
4.11.1 Banana powder and bar 111
4.12 Figs 112
4.13 Leafy vegetables 113
4.14 Conclusions 114
References 114

5. Meat-, fish-, and poultry-based snacks 117

5.1 Introduction 117
5.2 Meat 117
5.2.1 Meat mince and balls 123
5.2.2 Comminuted meat 123
5.2.3 Restructured meat 124
5.2.4 Textured protein 125
5.2.5 Cultured meat 126
5.2.6 Meat replacers 127
5.2.7 Imitation meat 129
5.2.8 Mechanically deboned meat 131
5.2.9 Chop, steak, and roast 132
5.2.10 Kebab 132
5.2.11 Bar, roll, and cutlet 133
5.2.12 Salami 134
5.2.13 Barbeque 135
 Contents ix

5.2.14 Sausage 136

5.2.15 Patty 137
5.2.16 Hamburger 137
5.2.17 Hot dog and bologna 138
5.2.18 Meat samosa 139
5.2.19 Meat chips 139
5.2.20 Jerky 139
5.2.21 Steamed meat bun 140
5.3 Fish and shellfish 141
5.3.1 Surimi 141
5.3.2 Extruded snacks 142
5.3.3 Fried fish and seafood 142
5.4 Egg 143
5.5 Processes applied for meat, fish, and poultry 144
5.5.1 Meat tenderization 144
5.5.2 Curing 145
5.5.3 Smoking 145
5.5.4 Grilling 146
5.6 Conclusions 147
References 147

6. Dairy-based snacks 151

6.1 Introduction 151
6.2 Raw materials used 151
6.2.1 Milk 151
6.2.2 Processed milk-based ingredients 151
6.3 Dairy-based snacks 162
6.3.1 Extruded snacks 164
6.3.2 Jamun and rosogolla 165
6.3.3 Filled snacks 167
6.3.4 Milk chocolate 168
6.3.5 Custard cubes 168
6.3.6 Curd snacks 168
6.3.7 Kashk 169
6.4 Conclusions 169
References 170

7. Edible nuts 173

7.1 Introduction 173
7.2 Raw materials and products 174
x Contents

7.2.1 Almond 174

7.2.2 Cashew nut 176
7.2.3 Chestnut 178
7.2.4 Coconut 179
7.2.5 Hazelnut 180
7.2.6 Macadamia 181
7.2.7 Peanut (groundnut) 181
7.2.8 Pecan 184
7.2.9 Pistachio 184
7.2.10 Walnut 185
7.2.11 Other nuts 185
7.3 Storage and processing of nuts 187
7.4 Conclusions 190
References 191

8. Different salts in snacks 193

8.1 Introduction 193
8.2 Different salts 194
8.2.1 Table salt 195
8.2.2 Rock salt 196
8.2.3 Kosher salt 196
8.2.4 Curing salt 197
8.2.5 Papad khar 197
8.2.6 Black salt 198
8.2.7 Nonpopular salts 199
8.3 Salt content in snacks 199
8.4 Methods of application of salt 201
8.5 Strategies for salt reduction 205
8.5.1 Gradual reduction of salt 207
8.5.2 Replacing NaCl with other salts 207
8.5.3 Formulation changes 208
8.5.4 Use of salt enhancers 208
8.5.5 Natural flavor materials 208
8.6 Conclusions 209
References 209

9. Sugars, sweeteners, chocolates, and sweet snacks 211

9.1 Introduction 211
9.2 Raw materials 212
 Contents xi

9.2.1 Monosaccharides 213

9.2.2 Disaccharides 214
9.2.3 Jaggery 216
9.2.4 Honey 216
9.2.5 Maple syrup 218
9.2.6 Molasses 218
9.2.7 Date 219
9.2.8 Other hydrolyzed starch products 219
9.3 Bulk sweeteners 222
9.3.1 Reduced-calorie sweeteners 222
9.4 Artificial sweeteners 227
9.4.1 Aspartame 227
9.4.2 Sucralose 228
9.4.3 Acesulfame potassium 229
9.4.4 Alitame 229
9.4.5 Thaumatin 230
9.4.6 Neotame 230
9.4.7 Stevia 231
9.4.8 Luo han guo 231
9.4.9 Saccharin 231
9.4.10 Cyclamate 232
9.5 Sweet snacks 233
9.5.1 Cotton candy 233
9.5.2 Rock candy 234
9.5.3 Lozenge 234
9.5.4 Hard candy 235
9.5.5 Nakuldana, batasha, and kadma 236
9.5.6 Licorice 237
9.5.7 Toffee 237
9.5.8 Gum drops 238
9.5.9 Gummies 239
9.5.10 Marshmallow 239
9.5.11 Marzipan 240
9.5.12 Nougat 241
9.5.13 Halwa 241
9.5.14 Sugar-coated seeds 242
9.5.15 Fudge 242
9.6 Chocolates 242
9.6.1 Chocolate-based raw materials 244
9.6.2 Chocolate snacks 245
xii Contents

9.7 Aerated confectionery 246

9.8 Reduction of sugar intake 246
9.9 Conclusions 247
References 248
Further reading 250

10. Fats and oils 251

10.1 Introduction 251
10.2 Raw materials 252
10.2.1 Extraction of fats and oils 253
10.3 Selection of oil 262
10.4 Stability and reuse of oil 265
10.5 Changes in oil due to heating 266
10.5.1 Frying process 266
10.5.2 Oil/fat in baked snacks 269
10.5.3 Toxic compounds due to heating 270
10.5.4 Trans-fatty acids 272
10.6 Fat- and oil-based products 272
10.6.1 Margarine 273
10.6.2 Mayonnaise 273
10.6.3 Salad dressing 274
10.6.4 Salad oil 275
10.6.5 Mustard paste 276
10.6.6 Specialty fats and oils 276
10.7 Conclusions 278
References 279

11. Other additives in snacks 283

11.1 Introduction 283
11.2 Different additives 287
11.2.1 Antibrowning agents 288
11.2.2 Anticaking agents 289
11.2.3 Antioxidants 289
11.2.4 Binders 290
11.2.5 Chelating agents 292
11.2.6 Food color 292
11.2.7 Flour treatment and improving agents 296
11.2.8 Food acids and acidity regulators 297
11.2.9 Food flavor 297
 Contents xiii

11.2.10 Flavor enhancer 300

11.2.11 Glazing agents 301
11.2.12 Hydrocolloids 302
11.2.13 Leavening agent 305
11.2.14 Nucleating agent 306
11.2.15 Nutritional additives 306
11.2.16 Preservative 307
11.2.17 Spices, condiments, and herbs 308
11.2.18 Texturizing agents 310
11.2.19 Other additives 314
11.3 Labeling of food additives 314
11.4 Conclusions 316
References 316

12. Processes and machinery 321

12.1 Introduction 321
12.2 Common processes employed 322
12.2.1 Baking 322
12.2.2 Blanching 332
12.2.3 Chilling, refrigeration, and freezing 333
12.2.4 Coating, enrobing, and flavor application 334
12.2.5 Conching 335
12.2.6 Conveying 336
12.2.7 Deoiling 337
12.2.8 Dewatering 337
12.2.9 Drying 338
12.2.10 Encapsulation 339
12.2.11 Emulsification 340
12.2.12 Extrusion and extrusion-cooking 340
12.2.13 Frying 341
12.2.14 Grilling 342
12.2.15 Grinding 343
12.2.16 Microwaving 344
12.2.17 Mixing 344
12.2.18 Packaging 346
12.2.19 Roasting and toasting 347
12.2.20 Shaping, sheeting, and flattening 349
12.2.21 Shelling, dehulling, peeling, and destoning 351
12.2.22 Slicing, dicing, cutting, chopping, and mincing 352
12.2.23 Sorting, sieving, and grading 354
xiv Contents

12.2.24 Steaming 355

12.2.25 Combination of processes 355
12.2.26 Other processing methods 356
12.3 Automation and robotics 358
12.3.1 Automation 358
12.3.2 Robotics 360
12.3.3 Three-dimensional printing 362
12.4 Processing of selected snacks 363
12.4.1 French fries and potato chips 364
12.4.2 Banana chips 367
12.4.3 Fried sev (bhujia) 367
12.4.4 Boondi and laadu 368
12.4.5 Pretzel 369
12.4.6 Other fried snacks 372
12.5 Conclusions 379
References 379
Further reading 382

13. Quality characteristics 383

13.1 Introduction 383
13.2 Physical properties 385
13.2.1 Density, size, and shape 385
13.2.2 Moisture sorption 386
13.2.3 Water activity 386
13.2.4 Appearance and color 387
13.2.5 Rheology 394
13.3 Pasting characteristics 414
13.4 Thermal properties 416
13.5 Sensory assessment 418
13.5.1 Measurements 419
13.5.2 Analysis of sensory assessment results 424
13.6 Chemical analysis of snack foods 429
13.6.1 Proximate composition 430
13.6.2 Minerals, vitamins and others 431
13.7 Flavor and taste 433
13.8 Microbial status 434
13.9 Microstructure 435
13.10 Machine vision-based measurement 443
13.11 Nutritional characterization 444
13.12 Shelf-life of food 445
 Contents xv

13.13 Quality assurance program 446

13.14 Good manufacturing practice 449
13.15 Specification of snack foods 450
13.16 Conclusions 453
References 453

14. Health and special snacks 461

14.1 Introduction 461
14.2 Characteristics of health snack foods 462
14.3 Approaches for making healthy snacks 463
14.4 Processes for healthy foods 464
14.4.1 Shallow frying 464
14.4.2 Steam frying process 465
14.4.3 Extrusion cooking 465
14.4.4 Roasting and toasting processes 468
14.4.5 Vacuum frying 469
14.4.6 Use of alternative technologies 471
14.5 Health-benefiting ingredients 475
14.5.1 Fiber 475
14.5.2 Amaranth 476
14.5.3 Moringa 477
14.5.4 Spirulina 478
14.5.5 Chick pea 479
14.5.6 Premature-processed and matured green legumes 479
14.5.7 Spices and herbs 480
14.5.8 Probiotics and prebiotics 481
14.6 Reduction in unhealthy items 482
14.6.1 Reduction of sugar and salt 482
14.6.2 Oil/fat reduction 486
14.6.3 Reduction of acrylamide 487
14.7 Known healthy snack foods 488
14.7.1 Protein bars 488
14.7.2 Cereal bars 490
14.7.3 Gun puffing and compressed cake 491
14.7.4 Steamed bun 491
14.7.5 Churpi 493
14.7.6 Khakra 493
14.7.7 Roasted pulse/legume 494
14.7.8 Naan 495
14.7.9 Rice cake 495
xvi Contents

14.7.10 Puffed soybean 496

14.7.11 Baked carrot chips 497
14.7.12 Microwave processed potato chips 498
14.7.13 Fruit leather 499
14.7.14 Fruit- and vegetable-based ingredients 500
14.7.15 Candied fruit without added sugar 501
14.7.16 Mock meat 501
14.7.17 Tissue culture meat 503
14.7.18 Okara 503
14.7.19 Bori 504
14.7.20 Functional foods for appetite control 504
14.7.21 Snacks with a change in formulation 505
14.8 Snacks for special purposes 507
14.8.1 Snacks for emergency purposes 507
14.8.2 Snacks for nutritional intervention programs 508
14.8.3 Gluten-free snacks 508
14.8.4 Dairy-free snacks 511
14.8.5 Low GI snacks 511
14.9 Artistic snacks 512
14.9.1 Churros 513
14.9.2 Gohona bori 513
14.9.3 Amriti 516
14.9.4 Jilebi with multiple strands 516
14.9.5 Sarawak layer cake 517
14.9.6 Other unique shapes 517
14.10 Conclusions 518
References 519

15. Trouble shooting 525

15.1 Introduction 525
15.2 Problems and suggested solutions 525
15.3 Conclusions 541
References 541

Index 543
Preface

Snack foods, eaten in between major meals, are an integral component of

the lifestyle and culture. Though snack foods are habitually meant for enjoy-
ment, they offer several nutrients apart from providing food energy.
Consumers expect something interesting in snacks compared to familiar base
meals offering no excitement. The food habits have also changed for many
people due to the “cash-rich less-time” condition.
The book contains 15 chapters that are briefly mentioned in the subse-
quent sections. Chapter 1 (Introduction) cites the definition of snacks and
the important surveys conducted on the consumption of snack foods in
different countries. Several raw materials and additives are used to prepare
the snacks. These are discussed in Chapters 2
11. Chapter 12 deals with
processes and machinery. The quality characteristics of raw materials and
snack foods are shown in Chapter 13. Chapter 14 discusses the health and
special snacks while trouble shooting is mentioned in Chapter 15.
Grains and grain fractions (Chapter 2) are the most commonly used base
material that comprises cereals, millets, pulses, and oilseeds. The root and
tuber crops (Chapter 3) are the storehouse of starch which is the popular
ingredient for the manufacture of numerous snack foods. The edible portions
of fruits and vegetables are used to develop ingredients such as pulp, paste,
juice, powder, and dried slices for the preparation of snack products
(Chapter 4). The prepared snacks are candied fruit bars and cubes, fried vege-
tables, battered products, and extruded snacks. Chapter 5 is concerning meat,
fish, and poultry-based snacks from various animal sources. The intermediate
moisture-containing products such as sausages, jerky, and similar products are
popular among consumers. Milk-based snacks, mostly sweet, are commer-
cially important products (Chapter 6). Such snack products are often prepared
in combination with processed cereals and nuts, and pieces of dried fruits.
Chapter 7 deals with edible nuts and the snacks made from them. Nuts are
considered to be health-benefiting foods and possess worldwide popularity.
The common nuts are hazelnut, chestnut, almond, pecan, coconut, pistachio,
walnut, peanut or groundnut, and cashew nut. Salt performs several functions
in snack foods such as flavor-enhancing, preservation, and offering saltiness.
Different types of salt are obtained from sea or lake waters, or mines
(Chapter 8). In general, snack foods are high in salt content, which is higher
than the physiological needs. The level of salt may be reduced by using

xvii
xviii Preface

appropriate methods. Chapter 9 shows the use of sugars, sweeteners, and

chocolates in sweet snacks. The addition of nonnutritive or artificial sweet-
eners, bulk sweeteners, and high-intensity sweeteners is discussed. Fats and
oils are the indispensable components of snack foods, and fat/oil performs
several functions (Chapter 10). Chapter 11 mentions the use of other addi-
tives in snack foods. Apart from the conventional ingredients like salt and
sugar, several additives like emulsifiers, colors, flavors, antioxidants, spices, and
preservatives are used in a small quantity to obtain the desired functions.
Machinery and processing techniques are the integral components of
snack food preparations in domestic kitchens, establishments catering
ready-to-eat snacks, cottage and small-scale industries, and large produc-
tion units (Chapter 12). The level of sophistication varies widely from
simple manual mode to automated plants producing a few kilograms of
snacks to several tons of products per day.
Chapter 13 discusses the quality characteristics of raw materials and
developed snacks. These are categorized into nutritional, microbial status,
subjective, physical, physicochemical, and other attributes. Health-
benefitting snacks can serve as substitutes for conventional snacks
(Chapter 14). The approaches for making healthy snacks include the use
of appropriate technologies and healthy ingredients and reduction in
unhealthy items by employing suitable technological interventions. The
special snacks are mentioned that include the concept of artistic snacks.
Chapter 15 is concerned with trouble shooting. Snack foods face several
technological problems that are possible to solve.
This book will be of use to entrepreneurs, academic and research insti-
tutes, professionals in the field, and personnel from industries.
I acknowledge the help of several colleagues like Mr. K. K. Bhat, Dr. R.
Chetana, Dr. K. Udaya Sankar, and Dr. Sila Bhattacharya for helping in the
planning, preparing, and editing the manuscripts. Mrs. Pronoti Roy, Mrs.
Sanjeevani, and Mrs. Sonalika collected several snacks, took photographs, and
edited several figures and tables to make them suitable for the book.
Appreciation goes to my teacher Professor H. Das and retired scientist Mr. K.
M. Dastur from whom I had learned many things including technical writ-
ing. I am indebted to CSIR-CFTRI, Mysore, India, where I had worked for
nearly three decades. The pilot plants, laboratories, central instruments sec-
tion, and library helped me to learn many things. I am particularly thankful
to many of my colleagues there including Mr. A. Chakkaravarthi, Mr. S.G.
Jayaprakashan, Mr. K.G. Girish, Dr. R. Babylatha, and Mr. T. Ramesh.

Suvendu Bhattacharya, Ph.D.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction
Consumption of snack food is an integral part of each day’s lifestyle. The
snacks are consumed in addition to major meals particularly between the
midday lunch and before late evening/night dinner. They are also termed
snacking, though the definition of snack is not rigid. For example, many
people consume a small quantity of snacks during and after breakfast if
they feel hungry or there is a late lunch. It is a habit with many people
that is mostly practiced by individuals sometimes with a reason or in the
absence of any reason.
The history of the development of snack foods has been discussed by
McCarthy (2001). Snacking is an already practiced popular phenomenon
throughout the world for several centuries. Several traditional snacks, par-
ticularly fried snacks, have been known in many countries to be produced
in homes or at small-scale levels. The savory and salty snacks, such as
potato chips and corn chips, have started commercial production only in
the last 170 years and are thus considered new snack foods. The savory
snacks may be considered the multipurpose foods that can be consumed
with a meal or on other independent occasions, such as sports event, pic-
nic, or informal events.
Snack food is a multifaceted subject (Fig. 1.1) wherein technology,
industry, trade, and social issues are enormously integrated to offer pro-
ducts possessing consumer satisfaction as well as business success. The
availability of raw materials, major and minor ingredients, and appropriate
technologies for processing can manufacture a product of desired sensory
and objective characteristics. Possibly, all ingredients are employed to
develop snack foods, though cereals, such as whole grains, milled kernel,
flour and dough/paste, nuts, and meat, are more common than other
major ingredients. Among the minor ingredients, the use of salt is manda-
tory and other flavoring and taste improving items are frequently used to
make the product attractive to consumers; free-flowing liquids, thin or
thick batters, and powder are employed in such cases. Various processing
aspects are adopted for the preparation of snacks, of which traditional
methods, such as frying, baking, roasting, and recently developed (in the
last 50 years) extrusion cooking, are common. Packaging of the snacks,
Snack Foods © 2023 Elsevier Inc.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-819759-2.00002-1 All rights reserved. 1
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of The power and
the glory
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States
and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no
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Title: The power and the glory

Author: Henry Kuttner

Release date: June 29, 2022 [eBook #68425]

Language: English

Original publication: United States: Standard Magazines, Inc, 1947

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE POWER

AND THE GLORY ***
 The Power and the Glory
By HENRY KUTTNER
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1947.
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
 CHAPTER I
Transmutation
Carrying the coffee-pot, the Belgian shuffled out of the room. The
door thumped behind him. Miller met Slade’s inquiring stare and
shrugged.
“So he’s crazy,” Miller said.
Slade drew down the corners of his thin mouth. “Maybe he is. But
I’ve got other sources of information, remember. I’m sure there’s—
something—up on Peak Seven Hundred. Something plenty valuable.
You’re going to find it for me.” His teeth clicked on the last word.
“Am I?” Miller said sourly.
“Suit yourself. Anytime you feel like it you can go back to the
States.” There was a threat in the way he said it.
Miller said, “Sure. And then you send a few telegrams . . . It was
a sweet little frame you fixed up on me. A murder rap—”
“Well,” Slade interrupted, “that happened to be a frame. I’ve got
to protect myself, though, in case you ever want to turn State’s
evidence.”
“I’ve done your dirty work for ten years,” Miller growled. “It’s too
late now to try crossing you up. But we’re both guilty of one particular
murder, Slade. A guy named Miller who was an honest lawyer, ten
years ago. I feel sorry for the poor sucker.”
Slade’s strong, implacable face turned away from him.
“The man with the gun has the advantage. Up on Peak Seven
Hundred there’s the biggest gun in the world—I think. Something’s
sending out terrific power-radiations. I’m no scientist, but I’ve got
men working for me who are. If I can get that—weapon—from the
Peak, I can write my own ticket.”
Miller looked at him curiously. He had to admit Slade’s strength,
his powerful will. Head of a slightly criminal and completely
unscrupulous political empire for a decade now, Slade was growing
restive, reaching out for new worlds to conquer.
Word of this power-source on the peak in Alaska had sounded
fantastic even back in the States but it seemed to fascinate Slade,
who could afford to indulge his whims. And he could afford to trust
Miller—to a certain extent. Miller was in Slade’s hands and knew it.
They both looked up as the Belgian came back into the room,
carrying a fresh bottle of whiskey. Van Hornung was drunk and well
aware of his own drunkenness. He peered at them from under the
huge fur cap he wore even indoors.
“Could man be drunk forever with liquor, love and fights—” he
murmured, hooking out a chair with his foot. “Ah well, it doesn’t
matter now. Have another drink, gentlemen.”
Miller glanced at Slade, then leaned forward across the table.
“About Peak Seven Hundred, now,” he said. “I wish you’d—”
The Belgian slapped a fat hand on the table. “You ask me about
Seven Hundred. Very well, then—listen. I would not tell you before—
I did not wish you to die. Now I am drunker and, I think, wiser. It does
not matter whether a man lives or dies.
“For twenty years I have been neither alive nor dead. I have not
thought nor felt emotion nor lived like a man. I have eaten and drunk
and tried to forget. If you wish to go to the Peak I’ll tell you the way.
It’s all quite futile, you see.”
He drank. Miller and Slade exchanged glances in silence.
“If you go,” Van Hornung said, “you will leave your soul behind
you—as I did. We are not the dominant race, you see. We try to
achieve the summits but we forget that there may already be
dwellers on the peaks. Oh yes, I will tell you the way to the Peak if
you like. But if you live you will not care about anything any more.”
Miller glanced again at Slade, who gestured impatiently.
“I’ll take a chance on that,” Miller said to the Belgian. “Tell me the
way.”

In the dim twilight of the arctic noon Miller followed his Innuit
guides up the snowy foothills toward Seven Hundred. For many days
they had traveled, deeper and deeper into this dry, sub-zero silence,
muffled in snow. The guides were nervous. They knew their arctic
gods, animistic, watchful, resented intrusion into sacred areas like
Peak Seven Hundred. In their fur-hooded Esquimaux faces oriental
eyes watched Miller mistrustfully.
 He was carrying his gun now. Two of the Innuits had deserted
already, in the depths of the long nights. These two remained and
hated him, and went on only because their fear of his gun was
greater—so far—than their fear of the gods on Seven Hundred.
The Peak lifted great sheer cliffs almost overhead. There was no
visible way of scaling it. But the Innuits were hurrying ahead as if
they had already sighted a clearly marked trail. Miller quickened his
steps, a vague uneasiness beginning to stir in his mind.
Then the foremost Esquimau dropped to his knees and began to
scrabble in the snow. Miller shouted, hearing his own voice come
back thin and hollow from the answering peaks. But when he
reached the two, one of them looked up over his furclad shoulder
and smiled a grim smile. In his native tongue he spoke one of the
strange compound words that can convey a whole sentence.
“Ariartokasuaromarotit-tog,” he said. “Thou too wilt soon go
quickly away.” There was threat and warning and satisfaction in the
way he said it. His fur mitten patted something in the snow.
Miller bent to look. An iridescent pathway lay there, curving up
around a boulder and out of sight, rough crystal surfaces that caught
the light with red and blue shadows. Here in the white, silent world of
the high peaks it looked very beautiful and strange. Miller knelt and
ran a gloved hand over it, feeling even through the leather a slight
tingling. . . .
“Erubescite!” he murmured to himself, and smiled. It meant
copper, perhaps gold. And it was an old vein. The color spoke of long
exposure. There was nothing strange about finding a vein of
erubescite in the mountains—the interpenetrating cubes twinned on
an octahedral plane were common enough in certain mining regions.
Still, the regularity of the thing was odd. And that curious tingling. . . .
It looked like a path.
The Innuits were watching him expectantly. Moving with caution,
Miller stepped forward and set his foot on the path. It was uneven,
difficult to balance on. He took two or three steps along the
iridescent purple slope, and then. . . .
And then he was moving smoothly upward, involuntarily,
irresistibly. There was a strange feeling in his feet and up the long
muscles at the back of his legs. And the mountain was sliding away
below him. Peaks, snow-slopes, fur-clad men all slipped quietly off
down the mountainside, while at Miller’s feet a curving ribbon of
iridescence lengthened away.
“I’m dreaming!” was his first thought. And his head spun with the
strange new motion so that he staggered—and could not fall. That
tingling up his legs was more than a nervous reaction, it was a
permeation of the tissues.
“Transmutation!” he thought wildly, and clutched in desperation at
the slipping fabric of his own reason. “The road’s moving,” he told
himself as calmly as he could. “I’m fixed to it somehow.
Transmutation? Why did I think of transmutation? I can’t move my
feet or legs—they feel like stone—like the substance of the road.”
The changing of one element into another—lead into gold, flesh
into stone . . . The Innuits had known. Far away he could see the
diminishing dots that were his guides slide around a curve and
vanish. He gestured helplessly, finding even his arms growing heavy,
as if that strange atomic transmutation were spreading higher and
higher through his body.
Powerless, one with the sliding path, he surrendered himself
without a struggle to that mounting glide. Something stronger than
himself had him in a grip that seemed purposeful. He could only wait
and . . . it was growing difficult to think. Perhaps the change was
reaching to his brain by now. He couldn’t tell.
He only knew that for a timeless period thereafter he did not think
any more about anything. . . .

Thin laughter echoed through his mind. A man’s voice said, “But I
am bored, Tsi. Besides, he won’t be hurt—much. Or if he is, what
does it matter?”
Miller was floating in a dark void. There was a strangeness about
the voice he could not analyze. He heard a woman answer and in
her tone was a curious likeness to the man’s.
“Don’t, Brann,” she said. “You can find other—amusements.”
The high laughter came again. “But he’s still new. It should be
interesting.”
“Brann, please let him go.”
“Be silent, Tsi. I’m master here. Is he awake yet?”
 A pause. “No, not yet. Not for a while yet.”
“I can wait.” The man sighed. “I’ve preparations to make, anyhow.
Let’s go, Tsi.”
There was a long, long pause. The voices were still.
Miller knew he was floating in nothingness. He tried to move and
could not. Inertia still gripped his body but his brain was free and
functioning with a clarity that surprised him. It was almost as if that
strange transmutation had changed his very brain-tissues to
something new and marvelous.
“Transmutation,” he thought. “Lead into gold—flesh into stone—
that’s what I was thinking about when—when I stopped thinking.
When that sort of change happens, it means the nuclear charge in
the atoms of one substance or the other has to change too. The
tingling when I touched the road—was that when it happened?”
But he paused there, knowing there was no answer. For when
had a man ever before felt the shifting from flesh to crystal take
place in his own body?
If it had happened that way, then it must have been a force like
the coulomb forces themselves that welded him into one with the
moving road—the all but irresistible forces that hold the electrons in
their orbits and rivet all creation into a whole.
And now—what?
“There are two methods of transmutation,” he told himself clearly,
lying there in the dark and groping for some answer to the thing that
was happening to him.
“Rationalize it,” his mind seemed to say, “or you’ll go mad with
sheer uncertainty. Reason it out from what you know. A chemical
element is determined by the number of electrons around the
nucleus—change that and you change the element. But the nucleus,
in turn, determines by its charge the number of electrons it can
control. If the nuclear charge is changed, then this—this crystalline
state—is permanent.
“But if it isn’t, then that must mean there’s constant bombardment
that knocks off or adds electrons to whatever touches that road. The
change wouldn’t be permanent because the original charge of the
nucleus remains constant. After awhile the extra electrons would be
dropped, or others captured to restore the balance, and I’d be
normal again. That must be the way of it,” he told himself, “because
Van Hornung came this way. And he went back again—normal. Or
was he really normal?”
The question echoed without answer in his brain. Miller lay quiet
a moment longer and then began to try once more to stir his inert
body. This time, a very little, he felt muscles move. . . .
What seemed a long while later, he found he could open his
eyes. Very cautiously he looked around.
 CHAPTER II
Tsi
He was alone. He lay on something hard and flat. A dome of
crystal arched overhead, not very high, so that he seemed in effect
to lie in a box of crystal—a coffin, he thought grimly, and sat up with
brittle care. His muscles felt as stiff as if the substance of the
iridescent roadway still permeated his flesh.
The dome seemed to have strange properties, for all he saw
through it was curiously distorted and colored with such richness it
almost hurt the eyes to gaze upon what lay beyond.
He saw columns of golden trees upon which leaves moved and
glittered in constantly changing prisms of light. Something like smoke
seemed to wreathe slowly among the trees, colored incredibly. Seen
through the dome about him the color of the smoke was nameless.
No man ever saw that hue before nor gave a name to it.
The slab on which he sat was the iridescent purple of the road. If
it had carried him here, he saw no obvious way in which it could
have left him lying on the crystal coffin. Yet, clearly, this was the end
of the moving roadway and, clearly too, the forces which had welded
him to it were gone now.
The unstable atoms created in the grip of that strange force had
shaken off their abnormality and reverted to their original form. He
was himself again but stiff, dizzy and not sure whether he had
dreamed the voices. If he had, it was a nightmare. He shivered a
little, remembering the thin, inhuman laughter and its promise of
dreadful things.
He got up, very cautiously, looking around. As nearly as he could
tell through the distorting crystal there was no one near him. The
coffin stood in a grove of the golden trees and, except for the mist
and the twinkling leaves, nothing moved. He put out a tentative hand
to push the crystal up.
His hand went through it. There was a tinkling like high music,
ineffably sweet, and the crystal flew into glittering fragments that fell
to the ground in a second rain of sound. The beauty of it for a
moment was almost pain. He had never heard such music before. It
was almost more beautiful than any human being should be allowed
to hear, he thought confusedly. There are sensations so keen they
can put too great a strain upon human nerves.
Then he stood there unprotected by the dome and looked around
him at the trees and the mist and saw that the dome had made no
difference. These incredible colors were no distortions—they were
real. He took a tentative step and found the grass underfoot so soft
that even through his shoe-soles he could feel its caress.
The very air was exquisitely cool and hushed, like the air of a
summer dawn, almost liquid in its translucence. Through it the
winking of the prism-leaves was so lovely to look at that he turned
his eyes away, unable to endure the sight for more than a moment.
This was hallucination. “I’m still somewhere back there in the
snow,” he thought. “Delirium—that’s it. I’m imagining this.” But if it
were a dream, then Van Hornung had known it too, and men do not
dream identical dreams. The Belgian had warned him.
He shook his shoulders impatiently. Even with all this before him
he could not quite bring himself to believe Van Hornung’s story.
There was a quality of dream about this landscape, as if all he saw
were not in reality what it seemed, as if this grass of ineffable
softness were—and he knew it was—only crusted snow, as if those
cliffs he could glimpse among the trees were really the bare crags of
Peak Seven Hundred, and everything else delirium. He felt uneasily
that he was really lying somewhere asleep in the snow, and must
wake soon, before he froze.
That high, thin laughter rang suddenly through the air. In spite of
himself Miller felt his heart lurch and he whirled to face the sound
with a feeling of cold terror congealing him. It was odd how
frightening the careless voice had been, talking impersonally of its
pleasures.
A little group of men and women was coming toward him through
the trees. He could not guess which of them had laughed the familiar
laughter. They wore brilliantly colored garments of a subtle cut that
hung like a toga or a sari, with a wonderful sophistication of line. The
colors were incredible.
Miller blinked dazedly, trying in vain to find names for those
shimmering hues that seemed to combine known colors into utterly
unknown gradations and to draw from the range of colors above and
below the spectrum as we see it.
A women said, “Oh, he’s awake,” and a man laughed pleasantly
and said, “Look how surprised he is!” All of them smiled and turned
bright, amused faces to Miller.
He said something—he never remembered what—and stopped
in sheer shock at the harsh dissonance of his own voice. It was like
an ugly discord tearing through smooth, lilting arpeggios of harmony.
The faces of the others went blank briefly, as though they had
concentrated on something else to avoid hearing the sound. The
woman Miller had first noticed lifted her hand.
“Wait,” she said. “Listen to me, for a moment. There is no need to
speak—aloud.” A faint distaste was in her tone. Her . . . tone? That
could not be right. No voice was ever so sweetly musical, so gently
harmonious.
Miller looked at her. Her face was a small pale triangle, lovely and
elfin and strange, with enormous violet eyes and piled masses of
hair that seemed to flow in winding strands through one another.
Each strand was of a different pastel hue, dusty green or pale
amethyst or the yellow of sunshine on a hazy morning. It was so in
keeping, somehow, that Miller felt no surprise. That bizarre coiffure
fitted perfectly with the woman’s face.
He opened his mouth again, but the woman—it shocked him a
little, and he wondered that it did not shock him even more—was
suddenly beside him. A split-second before she had been ten feet
away.
“You have much to learn,” she said. “First, though—remember
not to speak. It isn’t necessary. Simply frame your thoughts. There’s
a little trick to it. No—keep your mouth closed. Think. Think your
question.”
Her lips had moved slightly, but merely for emphasis. And surely
normal vocal cords could not have been capable of that unearthly
sweetness and evenness of tone, with its amazing variations and
nuances. Miller thought, “Telepathy. It must be telepathy.”
They waited, watching him inquiringly.
The woman said, silently, “Think—to me. Frame the thought more
carefully. The concepts must be rounded, complete. Later you may
use abstracts but you can’t do that yet. All I can read is a
cloudiness. . . .”
Miller thought carefully, word by word, “Is this telepathy?”
“Still cloudiness,” she said. “But it’s clearer now. You were never
used to clear thinking. Yes, it is telepathy.”
“But how can I—where am I? What is this place?”
She smiled at him, and laughter moved through the group. “More
slowly. Remember, you have just been born.”
“Just—what?”
And thoughts seemed to fly past him like small bright insects,
grazing the edges of his consciousness. A half-mocking, friendly
thought from one of the men, a casual comment from another.
Brann, Miller thought, remembering. What about Brann? Where
is he?

There was dead silence. He had never felt such stillness before.
It was of the mind, not physical. But he felt communication, super-
sensory, rapid and articulate, between the others. Abruptly the
rainbow-haired woman took his arm, while the others began to drift
off through the prism-leaves and the golden trees.
She pulled him gently away under the tinkling foliage, through the
drifts of colored mists. Brushing violet fog before them with her free
hand, she said, “We would rather not mention Brann here, if we can
avoid it. To speak of him sometimes—brings him. And Brann is in a
dangerous mood today.”
Miller looked at her with a frown of concentration. There was so
much to ask. In that strange mental tongue that was already coming
more easily to him, he said, “I don’t understand any of this. But I
know your voice. Or rather, your—I’m not sure what you’d call it.”
“The mental voice, you mean? Yes, you learn to recognize them.
It’s easy to imitate an audible voice but the mental one can’t be
imitated. It’s part of the person. So you remember hearing my
thoughts before? I thought you were asleep.”
“You’re Tsi.”
“Yes,” she said and pushed aside a tinkling screen of the prisms.
Before them stood a low rampart of light—or water. Four feet high, it
ran like liquid but it glowed like light. Beyond it was blue sky and a
sheer, dizzying drop to meadows hundreds of feet below. The whole
scene was almost blindingly vivid, every lovely detail standing out
sharp and clear and dazzling.
He said, “I don’t understand. There are legends about people up
here, but not about—this. This vividness. Who are you? What is this
place?”
Tsi smiled at him. There was warmth and compassion in the
smile, and she said gently, “This is what your race had once, and
lost. We’re very old, but we’ve kept—” Abruptly she paused, her
eyes brightening suddenly with a look of terror.
She said. “Hush!” and in the mental command there was a wave
of darkness and silence that seemed to blanket his mind. For no
reason his heart began to pound with nervous dread. They stood
there motionless for an instant, mind locked with mind in a stillness
that was more than absence of sound—it was absence of thought.
But through the silence Miller caught just the faintest echo of that
thin, tittering laugh he had heard before, instinct with cold, merciless
amusement.
The prism leaves sang around them with little musical tinklings.
From the sunlit void stretching far below bird-song rippled now and
then with a sweetness that was almost painful to hear. Then Tsi’s
mind relaxed its grip upon Miller’s and she sighed softly.
“It’s all right now. For a moment I thought Brann . . . but no, he’s
gone again.”
“Who is Brann?” Miller demanded.
“The lord of this castle. A very strange creature—very terrible
when his whims are thwarted. Brann is—he cares for nothing very
much. He lives only for pleasure and, because he’s lived so long and
exhausted so many pleasures, the devices he uses now are not very
—well, not very pleasant for anyone but Brann. There was a warp in
him before his birth, you see. He’s not quite—not quite of our breed.”
“He’s from the outside world? Human?” As he said it Miller knew
certainly that the woman before him was not human, not as he
understood the term.
But Tsi shook her head. “Oh, no. He was born here. He’s of our
breed. But not of our norm. A little above in many ways, a little below
in others. Your race—” there was faint distaste and pity in the
thought, but she let it die there, unelaborated.
“You can’t understand yet,” she went on. “Don’t try. You see, you
suffered a change when you came. You aren’t quite as you were
before. Were you ever able to communicate telepathically?”
“No, of course not. But I don’t feel any different. I—”
“A blind man, given sight, wouldn’t realize it until he opened his
eyes. And he might be dazzled at first. You’re at a disadvantage. I
think it would be best for you to get away. Look there, across the
valley.”
She lifted an arm to point. Far off across the dazzling meadows
hills rose, green in the sunlight, shimmering a little in the warm, clear
light. On the height of the highest a diamond glitter caught the sun.
“My sister,” Tsi said, “has that palace over there. I think Orelle
would take you in, if only to thwart Brann. You aren’t safe here. Fur
your sake, it was a pity the port of entry you reached was here in
Brann’s castle.”
“There have been others, then?” Miller asked. “A man named
Van Hornung—did he come here?”

She shook her head, the rainbow hair catching the sunlight. “Not
here. There are many castles in our land and most of them live at
peace within and without. But not Brann’s.”
“Then why are you here?” Miller asked bluntly.
She smiled an unhappy smile. “Most of us came because we felt
as Brann does—we did not care very much any more. We wanted to
follow our pleasures, being tired of other pursuits after so many
thousands of years. All except me.”
“Thousands of. . . . What do you mean? Why are you here then?”
Her mouth turned down at the corners in a rueful smile.
“Well—perhaps I too was warped before birth. I can’t leave Brann
now. He needs me. That doesn’t matter to you. Brann’s dangerous—
his heart is set on—on experiments that will need you to complete.
We won’t talk about that.”
Miller said, “I came here for a purpose.”
“I know. I read part of your mind while you lay asleep. You’re
hunting for a treasure. We have it. Or perhaps I should say Orelle
has it.” The violet eyes darkened. She hesitated.
“Perhaps I’m sending you to Orelle for a purpose,” she said. “You
can do me a great service there—and yourself too. That treasure
you seek is—should be partly mine. You think of it as a power-
source. To me it’s a doorway into something better than any of us
knows. . . .
“Our father made it, long ago. Orelle has it now, though by rights
she and I should share it. If you find a way to get that treasure, my
friend, will you bring it to me?”
Long-grooved habit-patterns in Miller’s mind made him say
automatically, “And if I do?”
She smiled. “If you don’t,” she said, “Brann will have you sooner
or later. If I can get it I think I can—control Brann. If I can’t—well, you
will be the first sufferer. I think you know that. You’ll do well to
persuade Orelle if you can. Now—I’ve made a bargain with Brann.
Don’t ask me what. You may learn, later.
“Go to Orelle, watch your chance and be wary. If you ask for the
treasure you’ll never get near it. Better not to speak of it but wait and
watch. No one can read your mind unless you will it, now that you’re
learning telepathy, but watch too that you let nothing slip from your
thoughts to warn her.”
“You want me to take her hospitality and then rob her?”
Distress showed in Tsi’s face. “Oh, no! I ask only what’s mine,
and even that only for long enough to control Brann. Then you may
return the treasure to Orelle or strike a bargain with her over it. Five
minutes with that in my hands is all I ask! Now here is something I’ve
made for you out of your own possession. Hold out your wrist.”
Staring, he obeyed. She unclosed her hand to show him his
wristwatch in her palm. Smiling, she buckled the strap around his
arm. “It isn’t quite as it was. I changed it. If you need me concentrate
on this and speak to me in your mind. I’ll hear.”
There were countless questions still unasked. Miller took a deep
breath and began to formulate them in his mind. And then—Tsi
vanished! The earth was gone from underfoot and he spun through
golden emptiness, dropping, falling. The water-wall hung beneath
him. He floated in midair a hundred feet above the crag-bordered
stream at the cliffs bottom!
 Panic struck him. Then Tsi’s reassuring thought said, “You are
safe. This is teleportation.”
He scarcely heard. An age-old instinctive fear chilled his middle.
For a million years men have been afraid of falling. He could not now
control that fear.
Slowly he began to drop. He lost sight of Tsi and the golden trees
and then of the water-wall.
Under him the stream broadened.
He sank down at an angle—and felt solid ground beneath his
feet.
There was silence except for the whispering murmur of the
stream.
 CHAPTER III
The World That Couldn’t Be
Miller sat down on a rock and held his head in his hands. His
thoughts were swimming. Cold, fresh air blew against his cheeks
and he raised his face to meet that satisfying chill. It seemed to
rouse him. He began to realize that he had been half asleep during
the interview with Tsi, as though the mists of his slumber had still
blanketed his senses. Otherwise he would scarcely have accepted
this miraculous business.
Or was there another reason?
He felt a desperate impulse to see Tsi again. She could answer
his questions, if she would. And she had been the first friendly face
he had seen in this terribly strange land.
He looked up and willed himself to rise.
Impossible, of course. My own bootstraps, he thought, with a wild
sort of amusement. Were his feet pressing less heavily on the rock
beneath him?
And then, from above, came a high, thin laughter that was not
truly audible—Brann!
Even before the mental voice came, that malicious, slow thought
sent its familiar radiations before it. Something as recognizable as
sound or color—more so!—fell down the cliff and crept coldly into
Miller’s brain. He knew that unheard voice.
“You had better not come up,” it said.
Miller stood motionless, waiting. Instinctively he had fallen into
the fighter’s crouch. But how useless ordinary precautions would be
against this super-being!
He tried to close his mind.
“Go to Orelle, then,” it said. “I’ve made my bargain with Tsi and I’ll
keep it. But she’s a fool. She always tries to close her mind to
unpleasant things. She’ll never really admit we’re at war with her
sister. As long as she doesn’t name it war, she thinks it’s something
else.”
Again the high laughter.