THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 321 
al. The granules, See and small, one, without alum, being brown, wet, sw and sticky, the 
id water; but, when treated with boiling | jes with alum, being white, dry, eran, cand unobject- 
P in j burst and form a viscid liquor, which, | ionable. The specimens on the ta able exhibit differ. 
4 ry extract of flour always pe om | ences inappearance. Of course, the worse apie D lope pa of the | 
ne, 
| 
fe 
bread whic S the ig yields per se, the more striking the effect | h 
f pri alur May z, that alum does oppose the transformation 
i com nar rin O f: 
to a thorough chemical examination. H Nea ana this action is quite sufficient to account for 
Sanur is a flesh-forming, nitrogenised substance. | the whit ata. ame dryness, ps the non- TE apen that 
k extract is boiled, the albumen coagulates in | result from its S Alum is can to have the 
ery di te solution of white of egg or animal | of hY brd to retain a lar arger 
ir act erwise would. 
very e | fou a 
i ents of the extractive are the two very closely | e: ned, in a precisely similar manner, the crumb of seven 
s processes | wi ith. a Minne warne sis ween the individual 
ised substance, and may not improbably have been I effect of alum is to prevent the 
formed in the seed out of some ee Jales Raie so’ me or mouldy. On this ahh I oe: am 
rch asan organic product. But | to lay before the Society. M. Mege Mouries lays considerable 
flour we can only regard the sugar as | stress upon the fact that when the fermentative ene of the 
cess, namely from the deteriora- | gluten preponderates, we have sugar converted into carbon 
t ` wi 
Besin, possibly due to lactic acid or superphos- | by preventing the nsformatio: star ould prevent or 
d 
f 
water or with alcohol this difficulty is obviated, and we ae flo par 
enabled to ascertain whether the sugar poeme in n the sente of any evidence, either from fair inference 
proportion of water than it etl e 
injurio’ 
Ww. ie 
trine and sugar. Now, both of these sub- non valued Taw pe. Leni found as a mean result sap 2. ry per cent. | which must be con med by 
le of being formed from ngon and in | of w. e being quite insignificar compared | | condition to yield a b 
i i ubsist betw characters without the aid of some extraneo conten i and if 
5 pa n i 
i e in, we can by vario) 
thestarch, first into dextrine, then into eter: Starch xed Arca alumed or not. S i A read w ot of su 
of lime, and seems, by reason of this acidity, to effect a E ma ae eatin of ais = gh es seems to be alum. The rie, at of Dr. e z ri ', 
. Ifthe flour be extracted with | produced in recognisable quantity when bread is made fro bir nded by Baron Liebig, was Pecan eei hea 
Water. 66 15,50 | 12.85 | 15.96 | by means of. KER This substance was originally recommended | These depended much on physical character and c 
are? are = fin wE: conditioned flours; No. 3 a cheap by Liebig, and has been used, I believe, to a considerable | condition, as well as on atma 
the emanations from sewers, but as all sensible people avoided 
»ypen sewers as much as possible, so he for his own part would 
| wish to avoid bread with pam in it.” 
Dr. Gilbert said:—‘‘ With regard to the alum question, 
he suspecte 2 the tru’ in lay Sneehers between the two 
xtre: which had been advocated by the respective 
xim S | 0 e 
position, inasmuch as it | o pele during the process of bread-making, is | speakers. He Bien not disposed to think eo alum 
co : a or 
uld be, with t 
od bg for the purpose of bread-making. On a large 
power To ss of constitutions go tage ni “there was medical ' testi- 
mough to show alum or alumina in bread acted 
ously. With su a Er induced constipation, and this 
rious disease. On the o 
tabl d animal albumen, resemble one “I once examined the new crumb of 18 alumed loay es, and | was a fruitful source iak nae serious d he other 
ly in constitution and properties. But th Sa E Sw a mean result 43.68 per cent. of water. I also| hand, it was to be rem 
red, that owing to the seasons, 
r 
itable 
oul be unipetfect, and if digestion, then milation also. 
loave d 
experience The question was then, so far as related to alum, p Whether or not 
t 
he benefits which it andoubtediy poruge, so far as the physical 
nd some other characters of the bread were pilin med were 
i 
a reverse pro ea ess than th vi many cases in- — 
starch. We find that Wheat grain when in good con- | acid and alcohol, as is desirable: but that when the fecpientative duced. The subject required much careful consideration, and 
and also most samples of Wheat fiour, do not contain | action of cerea. alin, and, I would add, of diastase, preponderates, | if a substance or a method, that w f a 
whatever, although su; is very 8 ily formed in | we have starch converted ‘ato dextri ine, sugar, and lactic acid, rater ting the chemical changes ating tne d in flour anı 
ion of water. The water always acquires a | as a ee undesi oe We ei st sc arate that alum, bread, and which at the same t: 
ttention both o! pakor and medical men. Dr. ing had 
f 
quoted the opinion of Mr. Lawes and himself (Dr. Gibert), to 
is a product of the action of water upon it. From | or Ar pera: that the introduction of small pine 8 Ape gs the best flour in the esti met of the baker was 
‘own experiments I am a i Eai that the existence | of alum into bread is prejudicial to health, it se the which co. sri ned a comparatively an propon of 
` sugar in flour seine I have here aci Reis. not so r are nsib ie zs ally aet Tt peal or other nitrogenous constituents, and iarse neat tof 
e analyses o of Wheat f r. certai improves greatly the quality of bread made from | starch ; and, hae that this estimate was a correct one, so 
inferior flour, and, in a politico-economical point of view, is | far as the consumer of the een y mn us conserved: _ This was, in 
No. 1. | No. 2. | No. 3. | No. 4. | important, inasmuch as it renders a large quantity of flour | fact, the case, as matters stood; but scme little amplifi- 
— | suitable for human food in the form of bread, ven flour | cation of the statement was needed, to avoid misunderstan 7 
E -| 9.30 | 10.05 | 11.81 4.99 | would otherwise have to be devoted to less important uses. e would not say, that a comparatively high per centage 
c.e.. we | 66.55 | 64.58 | 62.52 | 61.21 “ Another chemical agent, namely, lime-water, has been re- | of gluten was not desirable, provided the flour had also 
ý Š . 47 8.45 12.05 18.23 commended, to effect the same resu t as that now accomplished | all the other qualities requisite i z bread pce 
ani by the Glasgow bakers. Now, I would paging ane Thus it happened that our home-grown Wheats, and 
evans weg Se Se hen de ib ie Londen bakers rg fing lime-water a full an tria Of | many pions. 4 ret somewhat similar climatic condition, 
Spe ee a a gie now ean how to u uso bear nies ¢ = st seldom at once ripened well, and yielded a high per 
ad. ual to | have to learn b; rience how to Hones, if their | centage of nitrogenous compounds. There were exceptional 
se of £ generating within the | earlier trials are nok completely P aiT a ey should, never- | seasons; but the ge was as here stated. O eats 
bubbles, so | theless, pean From laboratory experiments I find that | whiçh d best were generally low in ni 
, or — or | lime-water acts quite as efficaciously as alum in preventing the | of nitroge: igh in that of starch; and the high con- 
moisture, soft | action of diastase, and the consequent transformation of starch | dition, with little tendency to fermentative changes, was 0 
into sugar. It seems to have scarcely any action upon the fer- i e than the richness in nitrogen, within the 
Racca ax Te 3 ferment a tat for many years mentation induced by yeast, or, at any rate, a much less action | limits _us' D osettioing. The “oy, glutinous 
of ae bas been advantageously r many y as a sub- | than alum, which, wadootbedin, retards the process somewhat. | the other andl from hotter summers than our own, gontai 
g, or rather pan a partial s substitute. Yeast is A reaa It yields a very white agreeable bread, having a rather more | were struct ly objectionable oe the purposes of 
eee hange, which state of cl porous texture than ordinary paca! loaves, and being quite | making, exceps in comely ‘oportion, Bala om matured Wheats. 
glute i of the flour or yr These na very hard, 
“Independent n heed free from any sourness of taste or smell.” 
a 
k phe se highly nitroge: grains re gen 
yest, however, the gl a or bees “While strongly ERDER r use of lime-water, I yet | refractory in the a int yielding > dither a 
itself this pai 
a quantity into a are | inasmuch as a pat ° y er can onl 
dissolve about 12 grains of lime. Of course, the use of Time | po 
rater will yon apes an adultera dng and be stigmatised as 
ighly immoral, inasmuch as it will ‘enable the baker to im- 
fres! mgh readily | prove the E SERA nce of an inferior flour. oreover, although 
ce one rr use of “the yeast or | recommended by Liebig, it will render the aes ee N ble, 
on St tee iin “of fresh dough into an active con- | and so be open to another whimsical objec But - 
it may exert a transformative or fermentative hoor of this acsicanition with lime will, I FACA is ners ofa 
sugar. In order to effect the necessary fer- zzle to those minh NESA who have soe with the alum 
bs eae who have not thought it immoral to palm o 
Pari: ir bad chemi: icle. . 
ed at a high state of perfection, it is customary | doubtless, many other mineral salts that have the same kind of 
m ek ann of the dough, and only to faci- maon as ahii though —— t in degree. fame cre of 
means 
f yeast. s to act v very powerfully. I have found the addition | 
the Piker in the use of yeast or leaven is to of palpate “of zin: a very whi oat and eve 
on or es oyna of the saccharine ak ai not altogether without effect. i oldixtecre of 
xert the same action o: nthe flour of badly- | w: 
at within the substance of the dou A | Bean meal is said to e: 
our- is ae ith yeast, salt, pe tepid harvested Wheat, as is exerted by alum. Dr, "Gilbert informs = 
constitutes the Sponge, which is covered up and | that oe is really the e case, but it is a point on which I have 
in a warm piece bo muden Spaqacentiet In the | personal experience.’ 
an hour or uD; ja In the discussion which ensued some of Dr. EE s 
asily workable 
e 
fear that, in the practical operations of the bakery, it will prove | dough, or a bread of light and o] oe enous W Ton opposite 
uses, therefore, the high miy nae ged Vheats, as th 
mm 
rtion of n potenti matter and a large one of starch was 
conce: $ 
easily seen how much the p f the nitrogen in the 
food would soon be diminished pr Ae canpliyaiest of the 
acta In the evidence which the statistics of food afforde 
had therefore additional reasons for the conojuale, that a 
com En sem de, a Percentage a nitrogen n flour and bread 
as by safe test of thei 
man At rE nF 
othe: 
bes aie andy mi “It had been urged that = co 
rar avidea nce that-the habitual use of alum read 
ie not injurious ; he was not t called upon to docks 
estion ; whether it was inju rious or not was a purely 
po gaeti: which it was the ordos of medical men to 
answer ; all he could say was, that if they were to wait for 
case ah hames 
water, or that any one had been posi Seat lle by the 
and Spi ra undisturbed? Sure’ ely, it it w: 
what, w. a certain substance was taken pally its k efet 
to dia pier the organs of digestion, we A without 
wn, might be referred to the constant introduction, 
ors: uded to this ar ie | day after day, and year settee yay of that substance into our | from 
wasn 
d = t the same time it to be careful ae 
harging persons, of otherwise u eis ubted probity, 
OSAR substances in their manufactures, when the 
cha: racter of such persons depended upon the truth of such a 
charge atre t this was another + age or and, as far as he was 
concerned, ve oes a = me age m for tl ere rm pan = pee 
rsons who conseque: 
er th zluten Wisi Liss itted the accuracy of the charge by P pleading e ati either at 
once, or at some more advanced roceedin; 
These explanations, he thought, wo suce for the present. | 
And he defended the use of As to the sheer incredulity with which the xg das had bee: 
OW: 
Wheat carbonic add] 
g dist: fies wash we ferment 
i erent acid an 
nitrogenieed on 
y | was 
due ata violence to our reason, say that the many cases of in 
d | dyspepsia and other diseases, the origin of which was obscure 
n 
| met that alum had upon two occasions nid fa n bread, no 
a low w price, and manu ufacturers were ter in com- 
pe to supply that demand. Th i 
for price and a competition for quality, and the two 
balanced one another. Once upon a time a glue maker 
first introduced su! ise of zine into his glue and size, 
whereby he was able to produce as good and durable 
glue and size as his neighbour obtained from higher 
ri tru r 
vitriol he effected a real impr rovement in the: y btn 
hl 
ture, p 
h 
EES tha 
nasmuch Pe it enabled him to pera 
r cost, be dispen: o 
that the i of ea cuts of pcr rs 
ot been sh o be i injurious. All argume 
+} 
| actually in the shape of ie stals, and the legoi ë extravagance 
of the fact, he had only to say, that, however unlikely this | 
in certain states of not | might appear, it was a fact for all that; and however clever | 
of panifaction :— : t be ad in proof of its ees ability, 
per eo — 
as it had vont cleanly proved by. thea first 
of Mr. L. Thomson, as 
that in bread alum i ina ited alum, but er- 
went a most 
founded on observati iot nig ht. be reliable if ¢ 
sugar utal for E SEIN and teu = ood at least ag Ghasevars ict, 
r pre- | high as that of those incr ous ere h 0, however, di ra 
t venture to deny alum w: il quite lately, had | another, o_o tions a Kean a fourth, 
starch is very gradual, but | been used by almost all bakers, for that unfortuna’ was ro-enteri! papt a fifth could E pereive any effect 
ble. | also a fact too well E S tan any ni oi tg a whatever ee ow, in in all cases -evoa poisoning, even 
n mentioned t ers ~ : 
iiiar ed their bread as having ‘all the gin’ in it —on the | by the most a ee o5 arsenic, lead, 
same principle let them now ann «bree alum in | mercury, copper; or silver, &e., the “symptoms, tie tat 
y, elastic, i> an popio po sk exercise the £ choice, whether th they rar 
d have it or not. at wou! e most 
ealing, because if the addition of alum to | all observers sumer fame evils and asc 
ae ia way a 
with zE of | inferior flour made bread rage without alu, it tothe << than a 
i a speci 
t, will | fraud that ought not to | bat countenanced. Thay we were na thatit 
a 
them to the same cause. He : ‘admitted that alum o mga 
i Eere riro Fe aa POTS iat 
P 7 7 4 
n r , r 
