Report on the Means of Supplying the Poor with Food, 33 



different parts of Europe, by Vauquelin, it appears that the quantity 

 of sugar contained in flour, amounts to 5.61 per cent. But the quantity 

 lost by baking exceeds this by one per cent, nearly. We must, there- 

 fore, look to some other ingredient in accounting for this loss. It has 

 been supposed by some, that the ferment possesses the power of con- 

 verting a portion of the starch into sugar. We are not aware, liowcver, 

 that any proof has been adduced of this position. It is well known, 

 that a portion of the starch is converted into gum, or at least, that in 

 fermented bread, a quantity of gummy matter can be detected, which 

 did not exist in the flour. Now we believe it is by the viscous fer- 

 mentation, a process quite distinct from the acetous fermentation, 

 that this gum is converted into lactic acid, which may proceed to a 

 great extent, if its progress is not checked by a baking temperature. 

 We have been able to procure lactic acid in considerable quantity 

 from the liquor of sowans ; and we believe the rationale of the process 

 by which this acid is produced, is that now explained. We are not 

 aware of any rationale which could be applied to the explanation of 

 tho production of sugar from starch, by means of yeast; but with 

 the appearance of gelatinous or gummy starch, most people are 

 familiar. From these considerations, it would appear that we must 

 look to some other source for the loss sustained during the baking of 

 fermented bread. Liebig has well illustrated the fact, that when yeast 

 is added to wort, ferment is formed from the gluten contained in it, 

 at the same time that tho sugar is decomposed into alcohol and car- 

 bonic acid. We may therefore expect, that in panary fermentation, 

 which is precisely analogous to the fermentation of wort, the gluten of 

 the flour will be attacked, to reproduce yeast. It is to this action, 

 therefore, upon the gluten, that we are inclined to attribute the excess 

 of loss, over the quantity of sugar contained in flour, which we have 

 described as taking place during the baking of bread. 



Dr. R. D. Thomson has attempted to produce a wholesome and palat- 

 able bread, by the employment of ammoniacal alum and carbonate of 

 soda, or ammonia, as a substitute for yeast. In this process the alum 

 is destroyed; the bread is vesicular, and rises, according to the judg- 

 ment of the baker, as well as fermented bread. It possesses the advan- 

 tage of retaining the natural sugar of the flour undecomposed. It is 

 white, which bread raised by carbonate of soda and an acid, seldom is. 

 The experiments of Magendie show, that animals, when fed on 

 sugar alone, speedily fall off. He took a dog of three years old, fat 

 and healthy, gave it pure sugar to eat, and distilled water to drink, 

 and with these the animal was liberally supplied. For eight days it 

 appeared to tlirive. During the second week it began to get thin, 

 although its appetite continued good. In tho third week it became 

 still thinner and weaker, and an ulcer appeared on the cornea of each 

 eye. On the thirty-second day it died, altliough it had eaten three or 

 four ounces of sugar per day, till within a short period of its death. 



