66 



DE. EUTTAN ON THE 



stirred well uutil a similar paste was obtained iu each beaker. This of course was cooled 

 before the ferment was added. The great objection to experimenting with fresh bread, 

 leaving out of consideration the time required to determine the water in each sample, is 

 that the different samples cannot be reduced to the same state of mechanical division, 

 thus rendering comparisons between different series of experiments useless. Indeed, it 

 was found most difficult to obtain similar results in the same series, where every other 

 precaution was taken to establish precisely similar conditions. The texture of different 

 parts of the same loaf varies greatly ; still more do the different loaves vary that are made 

 with the same flour, the same material being used to generate the carbonic acid gas. Very 

 constant results have been obtained by the author whenever the foregoing method of 

 obtaining similar mechanical conditions was employed. In a number of experiments 

 made to ascertain the effect of mechanical division on the rapidity of digestion, it was 

 found that a very slight difference in the porosity of otherwise similar samples would 

 decidedly effect the result. 



In the experiments of Table 3, 2 c. c. of the pancreatic ferment was used, and each 

 digestive mixture made up to 50 c. c. with 1 % solution of sodium carbonate. Digestion 

 was continued for two hours at 40' C. 



Table 4. — Pakceeatic Digbstiox. 



This set of experiments was made with a view of ascertaining the effect of a weaker 

 digestive mixture on these breads. The mixtures were made as in Table 3, with the 

 exception that only half the quantity of ferment was added, i.e., 1 c. c. of the extract 

 instead of 2. The result shews a much smaller quantity digested in each of the 

 samples, but strangely enough, the relative digestion is practically unchanged, the 

 phosphate powder, however, was slightly more retarding in this mixture than in the 

 full digestive mixture shown in Table 8. 



ÏAELE 5.— PaNCKBATIC DIGESTION. 



