DISCOVERY 



87 



As indicated by the diagrams, the grain is surrounded 

 by a series of tough cellular envelopes, which are 

 removed by the miller as completely as possible to 

 produce the whitest or " patent " grade flour. This 

 grade therefore consists principally of the milled 

 parench^Tiiatous cells (p) of the endosperm. The other 

 grades of flour contain varying proportions of the skins 

 of the grain and the germ , with wholemeal flour at the 

 other end of the grading, which should contain the 

 entire grain with the germ. The germ is the richest in 

 vitamines, and is said to impart a pleasant, nutty 

 flavour to bread. The aleurone laj'er is the next in 

 importance as regards vitamine-content. 



From what has been mentioned about underdone 

 food, it might be inferred that, in the process of baking, 

 the vitamines in wholemeal dough would be destroyed 

 by heat in the oven. Such is, probably, the case to 

 some extent, but it is also probable that the crust 

 towards the end of the process forms a protective 

 coating which keeps the interior moist, and thus 

 prevents any serious rise in temperature above loo" C. , 

 even if it attains to that degree. There is little doubt 

 that in these circumstances some proportion of the 

 vitamines is preserved. In domestic cookery it is 

 probable that a larger proportion remains intact. 



As long ago as 191 1, Dr. J. M. Hamil reported to the 

 Local Government Board that in bread made from the 

 " entire " wheat class " the presence of the offal, 

 including the germ, secures a somewhat larger quantity 

 of mineral matter and of suitably combined phosphorus 

 QT other substances , as yet unknown, which may prove to 

 be of importance." The italics are not used in Dr. 

 Hamil's report. In order that no misunderstanding 

 should arise respecting the mineral matter and com- 

 bined phosphorus, he states that they " possibly may 

 be necessary for health " in the case of children. It is 

 probable that they are necessary for adults also ; at any 

 rate, there is nothing about them that suggests "offal " 

 in the usual meaning of the word, since, comparatively, 

 they largely enter into the composition of many food- 

 stuffs. 



There are, however, serious, but not insurmountable, 

 objections to the use of wholemeal flour. It is stated 

 by millers that the germ adversely affects the keeping 

 qualities of flour ; but the modern methods of milling 

 and the use of sound grain probably synchronise with 

 the improved keeping qualities of flour nowadays, and 

 thus remove any blame from the germ as affecting 

 keeping qualities. Experiments indicate that whole- 

 meal flour remains in good condition if the moisture be 

 not excessive. 



The baker states that the germ in flour affects the 

 strength and stability of the dough, while wholemeal 

 flour absorbs less water and does not produce such a 

 large loaf or such white bread as the highest grades of 



flour. The quality of the dough could no doubt be 

 improved if necessary, as a result of research into the 

 matter, or even bj' the omission of one or more of the 

 other ingredients usuallj' introduced by the baker. 

 The absorption of water and the size of the loaf are 

 probably Inconsiderable factors, except from the point 

 of view of the baker, who would eventually And means 

 of recouping himself for any loss occasioned by the use 

 of wholemeal flour. But colour is everything ! It is 

 respect for that quality which induces people to use 

 bicarbonate of soda in cooking greens, and thereby 

 reduce the vitamine-content of an ample and economical 

 supply. For this reason, all kinds of sophistication of 

 food are condoned, even the use of poisonous sulphate of 

 copper used in preserved green peas. The objections 

 to wholemeal bread, on account of a growing apprecia- 

 tion for science, may eventually be removed, and its 

 superior dietetic qualities be recognised with beneficial 

 results. 



On account of our ignorance of the chemistry of 

 vitamines, they have not yet been successfully 

 isolated ; therefore, neither their constitution nor 

 their appearance is known. It is no very extravagant 

 thought to visualise them as the connecting-link be- 

 tween inanimate and living matter ; but at present it 

 would appear from tentative attempts at their isolation 

 that they, or their compounds, are crystallisable bodies. 

 It has been proved by experiment that they are 

 indispensable to life, and no diet is complete without 

 them. In their continued absence, the muscles 

 eventually dwindle, the nerves degenerate, heart and 

 bone become affected, and a predisposition to tubercu- 

 losis subvenes. 



They are believed to be solely manufactured by 

 vegetable life, whence they pass into animals. Although 

 not credited with nutritive qualities themselves, there 

 is strong evidence of their decomposition, or of change 

 in their constitution in the animal system, on account 

 of their continuous supply being necessary for the 

 proper nourishment of the body bj' the food ingested. 

 Funk regards them as the mother substance of ferments 

 and hormones, and of vital importance to the thyroid 

 and other ductless glands. It has also been advanced 

 that their action is catalytic — that is, that they induce 

 the change in the food necessary for its proper assimi- 

 lation, without themselves undergoing ' change. 

 Although theoretically a catalyst is unaffected by the 

 reaction it induces, yet, on account of the almost 

 unpreventable presence of foreign bodies or impurities, 

 in most cases other reactions take place during 

 catalysis, and thus modify the catalyst itself. On this 

 account, its action is hindered and finally arrested. 

 Such is very probably the action of vitamines in 

 animal systems, and thus their constant renewal is 

 necessary. This is all the more probable because, when 



