110 TnANSACTioxs OF THE American Institute. 



of Paris, Yierma,* and London, may be regarded as in some degi'ee 

 the frnit of this labor, though the larger share of the credit is due to 

 the bakers and skillful houseM'ives who have mastered the unwritten 

 science and art that lie at the foundation of their success. But there 

 is a class of difficulties which battle the efforts of seientiiic men to 

 remove. I have mentioned the scarcity of good flour. The best of 

 bread, like the best of anything is costly. There is the intelligence 

 of the cook, which may be of a high order, and yet may be less 

 important than lidelity to the rules of the art of making bread. 

 There must be good yeast. The flour, and water, and yeast must be 

 thoroughly kneaded. An apparatus, driven by steam power, was 

 invented by Mr. Clayton, of England, suited to a large bakery ; but 

 the human hand is more than a match for it, in excellence of product, 

 and the kneading trough has the advantage of simplicity. The late 

 President Felton, of Harvard College, used to relate that when, 

 traveling in Albania, he came with his guide upon a mountain hut, 

 through the door of which he saw a woman rocking her infant in a 

 wooden trough. The guide asked for refreshment. The baby was 

 instantly rolled out upon the floor, a measure of flour and another of 

 water were poured into the trough, and speedily fashioned into a 

 loaf, to be placed upon the hearthstone to bake. Mr. Felton said the 

 bread was eaten with a relish, but he was puzzled for a long time, 

 with a metaphysical problem which arose at the time, and which he 

 had never been able satisfactorily to solve, "Whether he had seen 

 flour and water fashioned into dough in a cradle or a baby rocked in 

 a kneading-trough." 



Use of Alum, Blue Titkiol, and Lbie Water. 



I was speaking of the dilHeulties of obtaining good yeast bread. 

 The bubbles produced by fermentation sometimes run together, as I 



* A friciul has said to me that he hoped I v.-ould tell how the famous Vienna white bread Is made. 

 In the first place, great care is taken in the preparation of the flour. Scrupulous neatness and cleau- 

 iiness are observed in all the processes of preparing the j-east and dough. The dough is placed in an 

 oven somewhat of the type of the aerotherrae— that is surrounded by currents of heated air, main- 

 taining a uniform temperature of about 380 deg. By an arrangement of steam pipes, jets of steam 

 arc introduced into .the oveu to maintain an atmosphere saturated with moisture, and so retard the 

 evaporation of water from the loaf during all the early part of the baking. When the loaf has 

 attained its fullest distcnsiou and is penetrated by myriads of minute pores, the steam is shut off, 

 and a side door, communicating with a separate Arc from that which heats the oven, is opened. 

 From this the heat of an intense blaze is flashed into the oven to be reflected from the low, glazed 

 tile roof, and give that exquisite delicate red tint to the surface, so much admired, and at the same 

 time charge the thin crust with an aroma which is the product of roasting— an essential oil— most 

 grateful to the palate. This part of the operation is brief, and is watched through a glass window. 

 When complete the loaves are taken from the tins and immediately varnished with warm milk, or 

 water, with which a little good melted butter has been incorporated. The water of the milk quickly 

 evaporates, and leaves & fine glazed surface. 



