180 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



as then, practically dependent on common wheats grown in 

 our variable climate under extremely unfavourable conditions. 

 They used to hear of alum in bread, and we do not, for the 

 modern methods of curing inherent defects in our wheats by 

 blending them with other sorts of different constitution, and 

 modern methods of milling and baking, have come to the 

 rescue and have made quite unnecessary the recourse to that 

 injurious but effective remedy for damaged flours. Another 

 remedy for bad quality in wheat which one no longer finds in 

 use was the admixture of beans. In bad seasons millers used 

 to grind old beans, and mix the flour with that made from 

 wheat, so as to improve their product in the estimation of the 

 baker. In Great Britain that is no longer necessary or desirable, 

 and is not resorted to in any degree, although it is said to be 

 done quite openly in some parts of the Continent. We are 

 told that modern songs are not nearly so good as the old 

 ones, but the critic of modernity appears to forget that he is 

 pitting the average of modern work, good, bad, and indifferent, 

 against the survivals of older times, and a great deal of 

 grumbling at modern bread is done in the same way. Fifty 

 years ago the very best was very good, the average was poor, 

 the bad very bad. In these modern days we have eliminated 

 the very bad — no one would buy it — and under the pressure 

 of competition have learned to make use of a wide range of 

 qualities in wheat and flour, producing therefrom, at minimum 

 cost, flour and bread of excellent and by comparison uniformly 

 good quality. The best bread to-day is superb, free from 

 adulteration, dirt, and contamination. The progress of scientific 

 knowledge has not only made it possible to produce an article 

 of supreme merit, but has also rendered unnecessary all recourse 

 to adulterants. 



The whiteness of modern bread is regarded in different 

 ways by various people. The miller thinks it is largely due 

 to his immensely improved methods of wheat cleaning, whereby 

 absolute dirt and dark fungoid contaminations are more per- 

 fectly eliminated than they used to be, and to the comparative 

 perfection of his methods of grinding and separating husk from 

 kernel, whereby he obtains from wheat a flour consisting of 

 practically pure endosperm. The baker thinks he has materially 

 affected the colour of his bread by learning thoroughly the use 

 of modern yeasts and adjusting his methods of bakehouse treat- 



