ON A CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL QUALITY? 53 



proportion of water, cannot seriously affect the strength 

 of a sample of flour in the hands of the baker. Its 

 power of absorbing water, therefore, is dependent cither 

 upon the mechanical and physical conditions of the con 

 stituents of the flour, or upon the relative proportions 

 in which these constituents are contained in it. 



The proportion of gluten which can be extracted 

 from samples of undamaged flour usually varies only 

 1 or 2 per cent. Among varieties of sound American 

 flour from the different United States, according to Dr 

 Lewis Beck, the extremes are 14-36 per cent in a 

 sample from Georgia, and 9 9 per cent in a sample from 

 Illinois.* I do not think these differences either 

 supposing them to exist constantly between winter and 

 spring corn, which has not been shown are sufficient to 

 account for the differences observed, both in America 

 and in England, in the so-named strength of flour. If 

 not, the cause must be mechanical or physical. That 

 which takes up most water is, I believe, generally made 

 from & flinty corn. 



But, if merely mechanical or physical, is not the 

 notion that the strongest flour is also most nutritious to 

 be regarded as a prejudice ? This also is uncertain, as 

 that same property which influences the absorption of 

 water may also influence, in some way, its power of 

 feeding, when introduced into the stomach. Notwith 

 standing the light which chemistry has already thrown 

 upon this important branch of rural economy, the subject 

 still presents a most interesting field for further investi 

 gation. 



There are some pretty pieces of scenery on the 

 broader parts of the Kichibucto. I particularly admired 

 the view which opened upon us in ascending, when we 

 reached the point where the St Nicholas falls into the 

 Kichibucto. The two streams meet at an angle, and 

 * Patent Office Reports, 1848, p. 272. 



