EFFECTS OF PANIFICATION. 461 



Starch, . . . . . .53.50 



Torrefied or gummy starch, . . . 18.00 



Sugar, . . . . . .3.60 



Gluten, combined with a little starch, . . 20.75 



95.85 



Exclusive of carbonic acid, chloride of calcium, 

 and chloride of magnesium. 



This analysis shows that a portion of the starch is gummified 

 or converted into dextrine by the process of panification. A 

 portion of the sugar requires to be accounted for : it is pro- 

 bably formed at the expense of the starch. The gluten does 

 not appear to be changed in quantity, but it is changed in its 

 tenacity and elasticity. If a piece of bread be " placed in a 

 lukewarm decoction of malt, the starch and the substance 

 called dextrine are seen to dissolve like sugar in water, and at 

 last nothing remains except the gluten, in the form of a spongy 

 mass, the minute pores of which can be seen only by the 

 microscope." * 



Though bread is named " the staff of life," it does not appear 

 alone to be capable of supporting human life for any consider- 

 able period. How far the same observation applies to the 

 animals of the farm in general merits particular attention. It 

 cannot indeed be affirmed that the whole wheat plant, includ- 

 ing chaff, straw, and leaves, has been proved to be insufficient 

 for the maintenance of a horse, ox, or sheep. Still, observations 

 on a point so important should not be neglected. In the fer- 

 mentation of leavened bread, a small quantity of alcohol is pro- 

 duced, the chief part of which is dissipated in the oven. One 

 of the most familiar examples of unleavened bread made from 

 wheat is the article sold in the shops under the name of cabin 



* Liebig, ' Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology,' 

 pp. 38, 39. 



