hRii 



BRK 



BREAD. There are three varie- 

 ties extensively used in the TJuited 

 States, wheat, corn, and brown or 

 Graham bread. Wheat bread is leav- 

 ened, or rendered light and spongy by 

 yeast, which is worked into the dough, 

 and connmunicates to the starch of 

 the flour, at a temperature above 60^ 

 Fahr., a fermentation called the pan- 

 ary fermentation, in which sugar and 

 alcohol are formed in small quantity, 

 and the gluten of the flour diminishes 

 even to two per cent. In these chan- 

 ges, carbonic acid gas is given ofi", 

 and, rising through the dough, pro- 

 duces the cellular texture. When 

 the process goes on too long, vinegar 

 is produced, and the dough becomes 

 sour. The heat of the oven stops the 

 panary fermentation, and hinders far- 

 ther change. Town bakers, by using 

 every expedient to accumulate gas in 

 their loaves, produce a spongy, taste- 

 less bread. 



Corn bread contains no gluten, and 

 will not rise with yeast. It is mere- 

 ly mixed with enough water to be al- 

 most as soft as sticking paste, and 

 baked at once. 



Graham bread is commonly bread 

 containing a little bran, but some- 

 times bi-carbonate of soda and salt 

 are added. 



BREAD FRUIT. Arlocarpus insi- 



sa. A tree of the Eastern Archipel- 

 ago, now cultivated in the West In- 

 dies also, the fruit of which, cut into 

 slices and roasted, resembles bread, 

 and is mucli used as a substitute. 



BREAD ROOT. The Psoralla es- 

 culcnta, and other species, indigenous 

 in Missouri and throughout the West. 

 The roots are eaten boiled and raw 

 by the Indians. They are of a tena- 

 cious, solid structure, and insipid. 



BREAKING. The education of 

 horses and other animals. It should 

 not commence too young, or they 

 want spirit ; or too late, or they be- 

 come unmanageable. 



BREAKING UP. The ploughing 

 of leys. 



BREASTING. Breasting up a 

 hedge is cutting the face of it on one 

 side, so as to lay bare the principal 

 upright stems of the plants. 



BREASTPLATE. A strap run- 

 ning across the chest of the horse, to 

 hold the saddle tight. 



BREAST PLOUGH. A large 

 spade or shovel, the handle of which 

 is furnislied with a cross-piece, 

 against which a man presses, and 

 drives the implement forward through 

 peat or turf, cutting off long slices. 

 It is used chiefly in paring turf to be 

 burned for improvement. 



BRECCIA. A conglomerate form- 

 ed with angular fragments of stones. 

 Some are calcareous, others silicious. 



BREECH WOOL. The coarse 

 short wool of the breech of common 



BREECHING, or BREECHIN. 

 That part of the horse's harness at- 

 tached to the saddle, and hooked on 

 the shafts, which enables him to push 

 back the cart or other machine to 

 which he is harnessed. 



BREED. A variety among ani- 

 mals. 



BREEDING. The following is 

 from Mr. Rham : 



Breeding is the art of multiplying 

 the domestic animals rapidly, and, at 

 the same time, improving their quali- 

 ties. 



Any breed of animals will perpetu- 

 ate itself, provided there is a suffi- 

 ciency of proper food for them ; and 

 the varieties found in a wild state 

 must depend in some degree on the 

 climate and the products of the coun- 

 try in which they are found. Care 

 and domestication also produce va 



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