564 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



origin of soda-biscuit. It is tliis : "Abater in Medford, Massachusetts, 

 overstaying bis time out from his business, on his return found his bread- 

 sponge had become sour. In the hope of rendering it of some value, and 

 not a dead loss, a,s it otherwise would be, he added some pearl-ash to neu- 

 tralize the acid, and using some shortening he made it up in the form of 

 biscuit, which sold well, and he continued the manufacture under the name 

 of Medford biscuit. The Boston bakers got hold of the secret and continue 

 the manufacture." 



Soda-biscuit, so termed, were first made by Ephraim Treadwell, in this 

 city, from the same kind of dough the original Medford biscuit was made 

 from. 



Now, I will ask, can such be healthy ? Dough allowed to ferment until 

 soured, then by pearl-ash to neutralize the acid, after all the sugar the flour 

 contained had escaped. 



Large quantities of this article are made and sold in this city. Every 

 grocery contains them ; and if this and the self-raising flour, and the bread 

 made from such is proved, upon analysis, to be destructive of health, as I 

 believe them to be, it is time, I think, to apply a remedy to such evils. 



Dr. Stevens spoke of the serious evil arising from the use of alkalies in 

 articles of food. They tend to produce chronic inflammation of the stomach 

 and bowels. And to the abundant use of short cake, made with saleratus, 

 in the Southern and Western states, he attributes the general prevalence of 

 stomach diseases. 



Mr. F. C. Treadwell gave an account of his brother's and his own early 

 experience in the production of crackers. He argued that the universal 

 use of them, implies their healthfulness. And also gave his experience, 

 extending over the time from 1820 to the present ; during which time, he 

 never knew of any disease traceable to the use of soda crackers. 



Dr. Young corroborated, from his personal experience, Dr. Stevens' 

 views with regard to the abuse of alkalies. 



He considered the salts of potash more injurious than those of soda, 

 and that the mechanical clogging of the stomach with fresh bread, which 

 works into dough in the process of digestion, is an evil of greater amount, 

 than is understood. He never uses bread unless it be two or three days 

 old. 



Dr. Stevens attributed the general palor observed in western people, to 

 the abundant use of alkalies. 



Mr. Seeley said : Though baking is one of the oldest arts, it is not well 

 understood, at the present day. All the cereal grains are of nearly the 

 same chemical constitution. They are composed, principally, of gluten 

 and starch. The starch feeds the respiratory organs, while the gluten 

 supplies muscular fibre. Now if a paste be made of flour and water, and 

 be baked, you obtain heavy or unleavened bread, which lies solid in the 

 stomach, and is not easily acted upon by the gastric juice. If a similar 

 paste be made with a little yeast, we obtain a sponge, which has the same 

 nutritive elements as the unleavened bread, but which, when baked and 



