Br Colquhoun on the Art of baking Bread. *J§ 



plant, which had attracted the notice of the illustrious Cook, 

 is probably the longest vegetable known, and is often many 

 hundred feet in length. It is remarkable, that a slender sea- 

 weed should exceed in length the tallest of the giants of the 

 forest, — the pines of the north, and the palms of the tropics. 



All the Indians of Nootka have flat heads, rather more coni- 

 cal in their shape than the sculls of the Columbians. They 

 are extremely fond of painting, and draw lines of various co- 

 lours over their eyebrows and cheeks, and then lay on a layer 

 of powdered mica, which, gives them a fearful appearance. 

 Their heads are powdered with the down of fowls. When 

 unpainted, the higher ranks are very cleanly, and seem to be 

 frequent in their ablutions. 



Our stay at Nootka was too short to enable us to acquire 

 much knowledge of the customs of its inhabitants, and much 

 of what we learned has been long known to the public. It is, 

 however, interesting to know that their language is merely a 

 dialect of that spoken on the Columbia, so that our interpre- 

 ter could easily make himself understood. Their manners 

 differ very little from those of the Columbians, and it is high- 

 ly probable that they are the ramifications of a single nation. 

 Although the knowledge of uncivilized tribes acquired by the 

 short visits of navigators is highly curious, there are many 

 facts which can only be acquired by a closer view, and a longer 

 residence among them. In this manner, Mozino, the botanist 

 who accompanied Quadra, obtained much interesting matter ; 

 but my acquaintance with his researches is confined to a few 

 extracts in different works. 



{To be continued.) 



Art. IX. — A Chemical Essay on the Art of Baking Bread. 

 By Hugh Colquhoun, M. D.* 



Tke leading object of Dr Colquhoun in the chemical part of 

 his interesting paper, is to determine the nature of what is 

 termed the panary fermentation ; and of the three chief con- 

 stituents of wheaten-flour, starch, gluten, and the saccharine 



* Extract from the Annah of Philosophy for September. 



