23« 



NATURE 



[V 



1911 



CHEMISTRY OF FLOUR. 



The Technolofiy ■■' •■ niC. mk /i/J/m.' the 



Chemistry and At rmrti: nl /.s/nii,' oj 



Wiirat. Flour, and nllicr Moi »plnyed in 



Urciid-nmking and Covfccliomi W'm. T-ifio 



and Wm. C. Jago. Tp viii + 908. ( 

 kin, Mnrshnl! nnd ' '■ f •'! , i<»i.- 

 not. 



THIS, !' ' ';M'ii; (.1 r\ wcll-kiM "ai i u ^rk 



Ills ' L'rc.itlv, hriih in \n\\k ;iiid 



price, (H'lr ils Mr. la^n h;i>^ liad the 



cooperation of K, iirrparntion. 



It is far from i-asy hi n viiw nl nil riiiri.ju.ililv a 

 hook of !^'»^ p:uf<-^, .'nifl uiidi mhtidlv tlx^ wnrlc would 

 h.i I v.ilui' if il iiad ln^n niatcii.illy 



loi.U. ,, - I.. i..i»v ;;iu.sl similar tcclinoiot^ic.i! woilc-;, 

 it commences with a good deal of purr rliinii-tr\, 

 which is partly of very elementary cliarari-r; virv 

 nearly all this could have been omiit'.l wiili .ulv.in- 

 lage. 



The new (dition contains most of the previous issue 

 in its original form, but supplemented very fully by 

 the additions required to brinp it up to date. Wliilst 

 this has been done in a most painstaking' and satis- 

 factory manner, the practice is a mistaken ono, if a 

 really good book is to be produced, ho\V(\ ■ r much 

 it may be justified by commercial reasons. .\s a 

 result, the treatment is unequal; it would be unjust, 

 however, to base any general criticism on these sec- 

 tions. 



The usual plan adopted by the authors is to j^mvc 

 a full abstract of all scientific papers in .my way 

 bearing on their subject. These are ordered, as a rule, 

 in historical sequence, occasionally with the annoying 

 result that, after a paper has been mastered by the 

 reader, he finds the results controverted by the next 

 paper. It is difficult in consequence to make out the 

 authors' own views in places or to take a rjiar line 

 as to the current opinions on a controversi.il question. 

 The authors' own researches are interpolated at con- 

 siderable length, and, though always valuable, their 

 insertion sometimes tends to confuse the re.nder -^tok- 

 ing for definite conclusions rather than the minutiie 

 of experimental detail. 



The chemistry of bread and flour is far from being 

 In sucli t I haotic state as this work would lead us 

 to believe; it should have been possible to give a 

 precise account of the present position and to indicate 

 the controversial points, leaving the discussion of 

 these at length to separate chapters. 



Apart from these defects the book is most complete. 

 and Mr. Jago is at his best in dealing with the 

 more technical side of the question. Such chapters 

 as those on the composition of wheat, the strength, 

 composition, and bleaching of flour are full of valu- 

 able information. Mr. Jago, it is interesting to note, 

 cannot agree with the so-called food reformers in , 

 their condemnation of our present bread supply, and 

 the evidence he quotes shows that he is supported 

 in this view by all the authorities of repute in this 

 and other countries. The chapters on bread-making, 

 •wheat, flour, and bread " improvers " and on the 

 nutritive value of bread, give a complete summarj' 

 of all that is known at present on these questions. 

 NO. 2199, VOL. 88] 



The subjects of bakehouse dc- nachtne 



bakerv and its managonunt will appeal specially to 

 those a( tu.r!!v ongaged in th-- trade — a bak«?r, S'P«>king 

 to moden quipment, will gain t» hcst 



value for v by studying them he: 



Til'- I' testing of wheats and flours con- 



stitutes iinporl.int section of the work: 



the subject i^ a dittu nl 1 much of the know- 



ledge of it is si ill r. r. a trade secret. The 



difficulty chiillv lies in -r^ the results of the 



choni' 'o facts iuch rivalry 



betu. live meri • mical " and 



"baking iagu points out, 



"though il test of flour," 



chemical analysis is often able, not only to point out 

 a departure from the normal, hut. uliat is more im- 

 pori int. to discov. and bakers 



ii.ivi- been slow as >-. iw ...ii^^ »... ,...>< ^ ''- '-'»w- 

 \n^ industry and introduce a chemist int ks, 



but where this has been done there is abundant 

 evidence that the laboratory work has proved an 

 actual necessity for the mninten.ince of a uniform pro- 

 duct of high quality. .\ very tlattering testimony to 

 this effect from the Ogilvie Flour Mills Co. is quoted 

 in the book. The authors give of their best in this 

 chapter, the pages describing the tests made with 

 the aid of the tintometer being of especial interest as 

 affording a means of measuring some of the subtle 

 changes which take place in flour on storage, and 

 giving more than a clue to their causes. 



The more purely analytical chapters which con- 

 clude the book are in some respects less successful, 

 some of the methods described being antiquated and 

 untrustworthy. None the less, the section is a useful 

 one to bakers' chemists, who will appreciate also the 

 pages devoted to the testinp: of confectioners' raw 

 materials. 



Perhaps the most striking thought after a perusal 

 of the book is how much of the present knowledge 

 of the chemistry of wheat and flour is due to the 

 work of the last few years, particularly to investiga- 

 tions instituted by those only remotely connected with 

 the subject, and performed without thought of pecu- 

 niary reward. Additional satisfaction is derived from 

 the consideration that the advance has been mainly 

 made in this country, or by workers in Canada and 

 the United States. 



In conclusion, the authors may be congratulated 

 on the result of their labours; they have compiled 

 a dictionary which leaves nothing to be desired in 

 the fulness of its material, and they have earned the 

 gratitude of all future workers in the field. 



E. F. A 



THE COLLOIDAL STATE. 

 Gedenkboek aaugeboden aan J. .U. van BemnieJ • 



1830-1910. Pp. xxix + 416. (Helder : C. de B. 



1910.) 

 jC'IF'TEEN years ago the number of those investi- 

 ••• gating the colloidal state would scarcely have 

 reached double figures, and in the text-books of the 

 period the subject received curt dismissal in a few 

 paragraphs. Had it not been for the connection 

 between colloids and dialysis it would have escaped 



