34 BIOLOGICAL PROBLEMS 



amounts to some i l /2 per cent of the grain, so that its 

 properties cannot have much quantitative importance. 

 As for the enzymes it contains, there is no proof that 

 they are of use, and in any case they are destroyed in 

 the later stages of baking. The presence of the germ, 

 moreover, interferes with the keeping qualities of the 

 flour. 



The issue, as already suggested, has often been 

 obscured by bias. Enthusiastic food reformers often 

 start with preconceptions, and are supported rather 

 by their own enthusiasm than by facts. Suggestion 

 counts for a great deal in matters of diet, and real 

 evidence only comes from carefully organized and 

 controlled observations. On the other hand, the 

 millers, though they have adjusted their methods to 

 the needs of the moment with the utmost loyalty, 

 cannot be expected to believe readily that the capital 

 and labour expended during half a century on perfect- 

 ing the art of producing the pure white loaf have been 

 misspent. Unless very clear proof is advanced that 

 there is definite advantage to be gained by retaining 

 more offals in the flour, trade interests will be on the 

 side of keeping them out. "Offals", it may be here 

 suggested, though a traditional name for the harder 

 parts of the grain, is an unfortunate one, leading to 

 prejudice. 



The facts can only be arrived at by actual experi- 

 ments carried out upon human individuals under care- 

 fully controlled conditions. A considerable number 

 of such experiments have been made, especially in 

 the United States. In this country they have been 

 few, but recently a committee of the Royal Society 

 instituted a careful investigation with the aim of 

 deciding whether there would be a real gain of nutri- 

 ment to the country if the percentage extraction of 

 our wheat supply were raised from 80 to 90. The 



