270 Dr, Colquhoun's Essay [Oct. 



familiar, and in which the address of the mechanic is so conspi- 

 cuously shown, that it seems worthy of being particularly 

 alluded to. It is in the manufacture of puft-paste that this inge- 

 nuity is displayed, and here it is probable that not only the 

 vapour of simple water, but also that disengaged from heated 

 butter may be called into operation. 



The requisite quantity of dough is first of all made up in the 

 usual manner with flour and water, and with a small quantity of 

 butter in its composition. After being sufficiently kneaded, it 

 is rolled out into a flat plate, and the whole of one surface is 

 spread over with a thin coat of butter. When this has been 

 done, the plate of dough is folded together, care being taken 

 that the upper and under surfaces exactly correspond in size to 

 each other, while there is of course one layer of butter between 

 them. The baker now again rolls out this double plate of 

 dough to cover as great a space as before, and the upper surface 

 is again spread over with butter. The doubling of the double 

 plate is now repeated, in a similar manner, when, of course, 

 there are four layers of dough above each other, with a little 

 butter intervening between each two layers, and keeping them 

 separate. This alternate process of spreading out into a thin 

 plate, and then doubling up first into two, next into four, next 

 into eight folds, and so on, is repeated for about ten times, by 

 the last of which the original mass of dough obviously consists 

 of about a thousand thin laminae, lying parallel above one 

 another, and having a layer of butter interposed between each. 

 When this is put into the oven, the elastic vapour disengaged 

 from the water, and from the butter, insinuates itself between 

 each of the thousand thin laminae, and being prevented, in con- 

 sequence of their tenacity, from escaping, causes them to exfo- 

 liate from each other, and thus ultimately swells up the mass 

 into a puff; and when the baking Is completed, the bread is 

 found to be extremely light, and to consist of an aggregation of 

 very thin membranes, no two of which are in a state of thorough 

 coalescence, but on the contrary stand out distinct from each 

 other, with even a pretty large volume of intervening air. From 

 this mode of preparing the puff, it is plain that in each p/o^e of 

 dough, which has never been fermented, there is but little light- 

 ness or elasticity to be expected, since the gaseous fluids which 

 distend and puff out all the plates between which they are 

 confined, nevertheless do not penetrate thoroughly into the 

 system of any one ; and, accordingly, upon examining any of 

 them by itself, it will always be found of a tough doughy con- 

 sistence. 



Such are a few of the methods which are either in daily use 

 by the baker, or have been strongly recommended to him for 

 the purpose of thoroughly gasifying his bread without having 

 any recourse to the ai(t of fermentation. Some of them are not 



