1826.] on the Art of Baking Bread. 173 



stituents of the dough, by forming a certain portion oi saccharine 

 matter at the expense of the starch. And it will rarely happen 

 that no such material exists in any part of a loaf, since the use 

 of hot water, in the ordinary preparation of dough, is just the 

 natural means of reducing the starch to a gelatinous state. 



Several masses of dough were prepared, in which pure wheat- 

 starch was mixed with common flour, in very various propor- 

 tions. In some of the pieces, this starch had been gelatinized, 

 with a minimum of hot water, before it was added to the flour. 

 After a proper allowance of salt to each separate mass of dough, 

 and a thorough kneading, the whole were set apart for the ordi- 

 nary period, and allowed to ferment to the usual preparatory 

 extent, after which they were baked in the oven. In respect of 

 outward appearance, the increase of volume, and the vesicula- 

 rity of their internal structure, none of them varied materially 

 from a piece of common loaf baked along with them for the 

 purpose of comparison; at least, the only difference was that 

 when the starch originally added to the dough very materially 

 exceeded^ the proportion of common flour in the same piece, the 

 loaf, while it was decidedly whiter in appearance, had not risen 

 so v/ell, nor did it possess a structure so vesicular as the others. 

 But on tasting the bread of each loaf, the unexpected result 

 was perceived, of the existence of unusual sweetness distinctly 

 observable in all those loaves which had contained the largest 

 proportions of gelatinized starch. The other loaves, where 

 smaller quantities of the gelatinized starch had been employed, 

 or where pure, but dry, pulverulent starch had been used in any 

 proportion, thougji all w^ere made at the same time, and mixed 

 with flour of the same quality, had no sweetish taste whatever 

 to distinguish them from common bread. These facts led, 

 therefore, to the conclusion, that the presence of gelatinous 

 starch in bread when put into the oven, is a means of forming a 

 certain amount of saccharine matter within the loaf, during the 

 process of baking. And as it is probable that gelatinized starch 

 does exist more or less in all loaves which have been fermented 

 by our usual process, it would appear that in every case there 

 is formed, while in the oven, a certain portion of sugar within 

 the bread. The difficulty, therefore, which suggested itself to 

 M. Vogel, if indeed, it be not accounted for by the early period 

 at which fermentation is interrupted in bread-making, seems thus 

 to be completely removed ; and the alcoholic fermentation of 

 the saccharine matter in flour is sufficiently proved to be the 

 true panary fermentation occurring in our ordinary system of 

 bread-making. The point may therefore be assumed as scarcely 

 admitting of further question, that it is the saccharine principle 

 of flour in which decomposition commences, and with which it 

 ends, while dough is under fermentation. 



The first step of the investigation into the nature of the panary; 



