B R E 



Uread one part of the acetic acid, as is proved by the am- 

 Fruit. moniacal odour of dough treated by potas?. Bread 



""""'' itself always contains a little of this acid, which 



heightens the flavour of it. 



3d, The starch, the undecomposed glutea, and the 

 other materials of the dough, are so intimately uni- 

 ted by the baking-, that it is no longer possible to 

 separate them. We can discover by the distillation 

 of bread an animal matter, for it forms ammoniacal 

 acetite ; hut a less quantity of this is obtained from 

 it than of farina, according to the observation of M. 

 Vauquel'n. 



4th, The formation of carbonic acid gas is render- 

 ed evident by the volume which the dough acquires, 

 and by the numerous cavities which are seen in it. 

 This gas escaping while the bread is baking, dilates 

 the mass still more, which causes the air to lodge in 

 t'ru.se cavities : an important circumstance ; whence 

 results, say they, the remarkable whiteness of bread, 

 full of little holes, so light, delicate, and sapid, in 

 comparison with the bread destitute of them, which is 

 heavy, compact, and of a disagreeable taste. It is, 

 therefore, more particularly the ferment which has 

 the most active share in producing pannificatir-n. 

 Added to dough in small quantity, the operation is 

 slow and incomplete ; in too large proportion, the 

 fermentation goes on so rapidly, that it becomes ne- 

 cessary to check it. In this last case, M. Chaptal 

 proposes to knead some carbonate of potass with the 

 dough, which will neutralize the excess of acetic 

 acid. Our good housewives content themselves with 

 uncovering the dough, dividing it, and exposing it to 

 the air, in order to diminish the temperature of the 

 fermenting mass ; and this management sometimes 

 succeeds." See Chaptal's Nouveau Cours Complet 

 d' Agriculture ; and the Annales de Chimie 1810. 



BREAD FHU IT (Artocarpus incisa). This fruit 

 is the produce of a species of the genus Artocarpus, 

 which grows abundantly in the South Sea islands. 

 There are several species, which are noticed in the 

 article BOTANY, and to which we refer, as our pre- 

 sent object is limited. 



The characters of the bread-fruit tree are the fol- 

 lowing : 



Class, MONOECIA. 

 Order, Monandria. 



Catkin cylindrical gradually enlarging covered 

 with flowers. 



Male. Calyx two-valved. No corolla. 



Female. No calyx. No corolla. One style. 



Drupe. Multilocular. 



Thunberg mentions several subspecies of the arto- 

 carpus incisa; but the information which he has af- 

 forded is crude and imperfect. The natives of the So- 

 ciety Islands, according to the narrative with which 

 Admiral Bligh has favoured the public, reckon eight 

 species ; though the correctness of their division does 

 not appear quite evident. The species and names 

 are as follow : 



1. Patteah. 



2. Eroroo. 



3. Awauna, 



4. Mire, 



444 B R E 



5. Oree. 



6. Powerro. 



7. Appeere. 



8. Rowdeeah. 



The differences are said to consist chiefly in the 

 leaves, and a.'e v?ry trifling. The eighth species has 

 a large broad leaf, without any notches ; while those 

 of all the other species are more or less notched. 

 It may be a variety ; but we are not aware of any 

 sufficiently accurate observations which might enable 

 us to decide this point. 



The fruit of -the Patteah differs from that of the 

 Rowdeeah ; the former is oblong, while the latter is 

 round, and not above half of the size of the other. 



All the species of the Artocarpus are natives of 

 the South Sea islands, and have long attracted the 

 notice of voyagers. So long ago as in 1688, when 

 Dampier performed his voyage roum' th world, the 

 species which we have described w. s noticed, and 

 the following description given of it : 



" The bread-fruit (as we call it) grows on a large 

 tree, as big and high as our largest apple trees ; it 

 hath a spreading head, full of branches, and dark 

 leaves. The fruit grows on the boughs like apples : 

 it is as big as a penny loaf when wheat is at five shil- 

 lings the bushel ; it is of a round shape, and hath a 

 thick tough rind. When the fruit is ripe, it is yel- 

 low and soft, and the taste is sweet and pleasant. 

 The natives of Guam use it for bread. They ga- 

 ther it when full grown, while it is green and hard ; 

 then they bake it in an oven, which scorcheth the 

 rind and maketh it black ; but they scrape off the 

 outside black crust, and there remains a tender thin 

 crust ; and the inside is soft, tender, and white, like 

 the crumb of a penny loaf. There is neither seed 

 nor itone in the inside, but all of a pure substance, 

 like bread. It must be eaten new ; for, if it be kept 

 above twenty-four hours, it grows harsh and choaky; 

 but it is very pleasant before it is too stale. This 

 fruit lasts in season eight months in the year, during 

 which the natives eat no other sort of bread kind. 

 I did never see of this fruit any where but here. 

 The natives told us, that there is plenty of this fruit 

 growing on the rest of the Ladrone Islands ; and I 

 did never hear of it any where else." 



The most satisfactory accounts which we have 

 met with, both of the tree and of the fruit, are those 

 given by Hawkesworth, in his account of the first 

 voyage of Captain Cook, and that of our illustrious 

 Circumnavigator himself, in his account of his last 

 voyage. We shall therefore extract both, for the 

 satisfaction of our readers. 



" The bread fruit grows on a tree that is about 

 the size of a middling oak. ts leaves are frequent- 

 ly a foot and a half long, of an oblong shape, deeply 

 sinuated like those of the fig tree, which they resemble 

 in consistence and colour, and in the exuding of a 

 white milky juice upon being broken. The fruit is 

 about the size anil shape of a child's head, and the 

 surface is reticulated not much unlike a trulle. It is 

 covered with a thin skin, and has a core about as big 

 as tiie handle of a small knife. The eatable part lies 

 between the skin and the core. Is is as white as 

 snow, and somewhat of the consistence of new bread, 



