On the EmpLoyment of Sulphate of Copper, fyc. 279 



an explanation of the manner in wliich that process is affected by 

 the various substances, which have been the subject of his trials. 

 The art of bread making, one of the most ancient and the most use- 

 ful, is probably as litde understood, in theory, as almost any other. 

 A perfect acquaintance with the theory of panification would proba- 

 bly be of great utility, especially in the use of flour of an inferior 

 quality, or of damaged flour. The least discovery in the rationale 

 of this process may become of great importance. Of what great 

 utility has been the application of yeast, or how important in the fab- 

 rication of bread has been the employment of the fecula of the 

 potatoe ! 



Whole volumes have been devoted to the culture of the cerealia, 

 and seldom do we meet with a page on the making of bread, the 

 final object of such cultivation. 



While chemists have entered zealously into the process of sugar 

 refining, extraction of gelatine from bones, the improvement of wine 

 making, distillation, &£c. bread, by far the most important article of 

 our food, has scarcely engaged their serious attention. A few ma- 

 chines for kneading dough, and those of recent invention, are nearly 

 all that we find in the way of improvement. 



It is this continued ignorance with respect to the chemistry of the 

 art, which causes bakers to lay so great a stress upon every secret 

 process. The remarkable effects of sulphate of copper and alum, 

 greatly encourage their avidity. To obtain a whiter, more porous, 

 and finer grained bread, and in greater quantity from a given weight 

 of flour, and at the same time to dispense with the preparation of 

 leaven, are advantages too great to prevent the apprehension that they 

 will be greatly abused, and the public health grossly neglected. The 

 proper authorities ought not to be inactive in a matter of so much 

 importance. 



