190 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



amounts of these substances in strong and weak flours were 

 determined. In the few cases examined it was found that 

 strength was associated with a high ratio of proteids to salts, 

 and weakness with a low ratio. It is suggested that the variation 

 of this ratio may be the explanation of the different physical 

 behaviour of the gluten of strong and weak flours, and that this 

 is the factor which determines that component of strength which 

 governs the shape of the loaf, and its power of retaining gas. 

 This point is receiving further investigation. 



This, the latest of all suggestions as to the cause of strength 

 in wheaten flour, seems by far the most feasible put forward. 

 Comparatively recent work has shown that the possession of 

 a good or even of a high nitrogen content is not of itself a certain 

 indication of strength, and the quality of gluten measured by 

 the ratio of gliadin to glutenin is no indication whatever of 

 strength. As a consequence chemists have seemed to be unable 

 to account correctly in terms of their own science for that 

 characteristic of strength which adds so much to the commercial 

 and dietetic value of certain wheats; and if Prof. Wood can show 

 a definite connection between the percentage of fermentable 

 matter in wheat, the percentage of glutenous matter, and the 

 effect on its gas-retaining capacity of its varying percentages 

 of acids, alkalis, and salts, he will have done that which has 

 baffled many chemists the whole world over for many years. 

 By the time this article is published the subject of strength in 

 wheat, more particularly its bearing on the culture of strong 

 wheats in England, will have been discussed at the Leicester 

 meeting of the British Association. Let us hope that by then 

 this hopeful suggestion may have been transformed into definite 

 assertion. 



