CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



the same results ; and Dr Thomson adds that the 

 gluten of barley is partially soluble in cold water, 

 as is shewn in the steeping of the grain for malt- 

 ing ; but it coagulates at 120 or 130, and falls 

 down in gray-coloured flocks. In consequence of 

 the small quantity of gluten it contains, barley is 

 incapable of undergoing the panary fermentation, 

 so as to form a light spongy loaf like flour from 

 wheat. The barley bannocks or scones of northern 

 countries are formed by kneading the meal 

 thoroughly with water and a little salt, flatten- 

 ing the dough into cakes rather thin than other- 

 wise, and toasting the same either on a hot iron 

 plate (in Scotland, the girdle) or before a clear 

 brisk fire. 



The Oat (Avena), of which there are also a 

 number of varieties cultivated in Britain, is one of 

 the hardiest of our cereals. It can be grown with 

 advantage where neither wheat nor barley will 

 ripen ; and indeed thrives best under a cold climate 

 like that of Scotland, if the soil on which it is 

 planted be sufficiently dry. It cannot be cultivated 

 in the south of Europe, and is altogether a staple 

 for the inhabitants of high northern regions. The 

 entire grain is largely used as food for horses ; 

 freed of the husk, it forms groats or grits, and 

 these, when crushed, are termed Embden groats, 

 and when ground to flour, prepared groats. In 

 one or other of these forms, oats are pretty exten- 

 sively used as human food ; but more largely as 

 oatmeal, which is prepared by grinding the kiln- 

 dried groats to various degrees of fineness, accord- 

 ing to taste. This meal is not so white as 

 wheaten flour, and has a peculiar agreeable odour. 

 In various districts of the country, it is used for 

 making bread, porridge, puddings, and other 

 preparations. 



Four specimens of Scotch oats, on beinj 

 fully analysed, gave the following results : 





care- 



HOfETOUN OATS. 



Starch 



Sugar 



Gum , 



Oil 



'Avenin 



Albumen . . 



Gluten 



Epidermis 



Alkaline Salts 

 and loss 



65-24 

 4-5* 



2-10 



5-44 

 15-76 

 0-46 

 2-47 



i-iS 



2-84 



64-80 

 2-58 

 2-41 

 6-97 



16-26 

 1-29 

 1-46 

 a-39 

 1-84 



Arr>hire - 



64-79 

 2-09 



2-12 



6- 4 I 



I7-72 



I- 7 6 



1-33 

 2-84 



0-94 



POTATO 

 OATS. 



65-60 

 0-8o 

 2-28 

 V38 



16-29 

 2-17 



i-7S 



From these data it would appear that oats are 

 superior in point of nutrition to wheat ; and experi- 

 ence proves that they form a substantial nutri- 

 tive article of diet, since many of the labouring 

 classes in Scotland, in Lancashire, Derbyshire 

 Northumberland, and other parts of England anc 

 Wales, subsist chiefly upon bread, porridge, anc 

 other oaten preparations. Oaten food, according 

 to Pereira, is apt to disagree with those having a 

 tendency to dyspepsia : in other words, it is ap 

 to become acid on the stomach, and oat-bread 

 in particular, to occasion heartburn. With gooc 

 digestive organs, however, and a proper amount o 

 vigorous exercise, no inconveniences of the kinc 

 are experienced. Porridge or stirabout, which i 

 composed of oatmeal, water, and a little salt, when 

 well boiled, is one of the best forms in which oaten 



740 



food can be taken, and partaken of with milk, c 

 stitutes a capital breakfast. When boiling water 

 is slowly poured upon oatmeal, and mixed with it 

 jy stirring, after the addition of a little salt, what 

 s called brose is produced. This is eaten along 

 vith milk, butter, or dripping, and constitutes the 

 taple dish of the agricultural labourers in many 

 counties of Scotland. Gruel is a mild, nutritious, 

 and, in most cases, an easily digested article of 

 bod. On account of the nitrogenous principle 

 vhich it contains, it is, of course, more nourishing 

 han the starchy preparations (arrow-root, sago, 

 apioca, &c.) frequently employed in the sick- 

 chamber. It may be prepared either from oat- 

 meal or ground groats (Robinson's, for example), 

 ind may be sweetened with sugar, acidulated with 

 emon-juice, or spiced. Butter should never be 

 added in the case of the dyspeptic, or where 

 the stomach is tender. Oaten-cake, unless made 

 with scalding water, and well fired, is apt to be 

 icavy and heating. 



Rye (Secale cereale}, though cultivated to some 

 extent on the light sandy soils of our country, can 

 scarcely be considered as one of the staples of 

 British consumption. The small amount grown, 

 lowever, generally meets with a ready market, 

 partly for distillation, and partly for the making of 

 a light spongy bread, having a dark colour and a 

 peculiar but rather agreeable flavour. Though 

 'ittle used with us, rye-bread, under the title of 

 black-bread, is largely consumed by the peasantry 

 of Sweden, Germany, Russia, and other northern 

 countries, and has proved itself a very nutritive 

 and strength-producing article of diet. The 

 relation of the nitrogenous to the carbonaceous 

 ingredients in rye-meal being as i to 9-8, it is less 

 nutritious than wheat flour. 



Rice the Oryza sativa of botanists is a plant 

 of Asiatic origin, but is now extensively cultivated, 

 not only in China, India, and other eastern coun- 

 tries, but in the West Indies and the southern 

 states of America, as well as in the rich alluvial 

 lands of Lombardy, and in the province of Valencia 

 in Spain. ' It is the grand material of food,' says 

 Marsden, 'on which a hundred millions of the 

 inhabitants of the earth subsist ; and, although 

 chiefly confined by nature to the regions included 

 between and bordering on the tropics, its cultiva- 

 tion is probably more extensive than that of wheat, 

 which the Europeans are wont to consider as the 

 universal staff of life.' Requiring a warm climate, 

 it cannot be grown in Britain ; but we import i 

 largely the Carolina and Patna rice being 1 

 most esteemed in the market. It is brought chieflj 

 in the shelled or cleaned state ; though attempts 

 have been made to import the paddy that i 

 rice in the husk with a view to obtaining the 

 grains in a fresher condition. 



Rice consists chiefly of farina or starch, 100 

 pounds from Carolina yielding, according to B 

 connot, not less than 85 starch, 5 fibrous matter, 4 

 glutinous matter, and 5 water, the remainder bein 

 sugar, gum, and phosphate of lime. It is there- 

 fore evidently much less nutritious than any oft 

 preceding cereals, though it is light and whole 

 some, and altogether a valuable food when take 

 along with milk or some corrective condiment. 

 is prepared as an article of food in various ways, 

 either whole or ground. It may be used 

 barley in broth, boiled and eaten with milk, be 

 and dried as a substitute for potatoes, as 



