STATISTICS OF WHEAT CULTURE. 



231 



ing to M. Millou, threatens the nation with an annual loss of from two to 

 three hundred millions of francs. If the bran was entirely valueless, there 

 would be a loss of more than one million a day. 



It is quite difficult to determine the precise amount of bran which may have 

 been removed from wheat, for various samples contain such a different propor- 

 tion of bran that in the one case a removal of ten per cent, leaves more bran 

 in the flour than a bolting of five per cent, in another. 



The following is an analysis of bran by M. Millon ; the sample being a soft 

 French wheat grown in 1848 : — 



Starch, dextrine and sugar 53.00 



Sugar of liquorice 1.00 



Gluten 14.90 



Fatty matter 3.60 



Woody matter 9.70 



Salts 50 



Water 13.90 



Incrusting matter and aromatic principles (by difference) . . 3.40 



100. 



The conclusion to be di'awn from this analysis is, that bran is an alimentary 

 substance. If it contains six per cent, more of woody matter than the rough, 

 flour, it has also more gluten, double that of fatty matter, besides two aroma- 

 tic principles which have the perfume of honey, and both of which are wanting 

 in the fine flour. Thus by bolting, wheat is impoverished in its most valuable 

 principles, merely to remove a few hundredths of woody matter. 



The economical suggestion which springs from these views is, that the bran 

 and coarse flour should be reground and then mixed with the fine flour. Millon 

 states that he has ascertained, by repeated experiments, that bread thus made 

 is of superior quality, easily worked, and not subject to the inconvenience of 

 bread ma'iufactured from the rough flour, such as is made in some places, and 

 especially in Belgium. 



Opinions similar to those above noticed are entertained by Professor Daubeny. 

 " The great importance attached to having bread perfectly white is a prejudice," 

 he says, " which leads to the rejection of a very wholesome part of the food, 

 and one which, although not digestible alone, is sufiiciently so in that state of 

 admixture with the flour in which nature has prepared it for our use." After 

 quoting the remarks of Professor Johnston on the same side of the question, he 

 adds, *' that according to the experiments of Magendie, animals fed upon fine 

 flour died in a few weeks, whilst they thrived upon the whole meal bread.' ' 

 Brown bread, therefore, should be adopted, not merely on a principle of econo- 

 my, but also as providing more of those ingredients which are perhaps deficient 

 in the finer parts of the fiour. — (" Gardeners' Chronicle," January 27th, 1849, 

 p. 53.) 



The remarks of Dr. Robertson may also be here introduced. "The advan- 

 tage," he observes, " of using more or less of the coverings of the grain in the pre- 

 paration of bread has often been urged on economical principles. There can be 

 no doubt that a very large proportion of nutritive matter is contained in the 

 bran and the pollard ; and these are estimated to contain about one-fifth part 

 of the entire weight of the wheat grain. It is, unquestionably, so far wasteful 

 to remove these altogether from the flour ; and in the case of the majority of 

 people, this waste may be unnecessary, even on the score of digestibility."* 



This subject can also be rendered apparent to the eye. If we make a cross 

 section of a grain of wheat, or rye, and place it under the microscope, we per- 

 ceive very distinct layers in it as we examine from without inwards. The 

 outer of them belong to the husk of the fruit and seed, and ^re separated as 

 bran, in grinding. But the millstone does not separate so exactly as the eye 

 may by means of the microscope, not even as accurately as the knife of the ve- 

 getable anatomist, and thus with the bran is removed also the whole outer layer 

 of the cells of the nucleus, and even some of the subjacent layers. Thus the 



* A Treatise on Diet and Regimen, by Wm. Henry Robertson, M, D., vol. i. p. 153. 



