TRITICUM .HYBERNUM. 
long spikes, with the grain lodged in four rows, and imbricate ; the 
chaff or calj'x consists of two concave, oblong, keeled, smooth, 
nearly equal valves, the outer terminated by very short awns ;* they 
contain from three to four florets, three of which are usually pro- 
ductive ; the outer valve of the corolla is concave and pointed ; the 
inner one flat, blunt, and two-toothed ; the filaments are capillary, 
and bear linear, forked anthers ; the germen is turbinate, bearing a 
short style, and feathery stigmas; the seed is ovate, translucent, 
with a narrow channel along the upper side. 
Chemical Properties, &c. OF Flour. Flour, or the farina- 
ceous part of the seed, is separated from the husk or bran (after the 
operation of grinding) by means of sieves of various degrees of fine- 
ness. The flour constitutes more than two -thirds the weight of the 
seed. Flour when good is nearly inodorous and insipid. Water in 
which flour has been macerated acquires a sweetish taste, and an 
opaline colour, and affords precipitates with infusion of galls and 
the gtrong acids. According to Vogel, the constituents of flour are 
in 100 parts:— gluten 24, saccharine gum 6, fecula 68, albumen 
1.50. It is the presence of gluten which characterizes wheat flour; 
and on the due admixture of it with the constituents depends the 
superiority of wheat flour for making bread. f Bread is made by 
working the flour into paste with water, a quantity of some ferment, 
such as yeast, and a little muriate of soda, (common salt) to render 
it sapid, allowing the paste to stand until a certain degree of fermen- 
tation has taken place, and then baking it in an oven, heated to about 
488**. During the fermentation, a quantity of gas is formed ; and as 
it is prevented from escaping by the toughness of the paste, and 
dilated by the heat of the oven, the bread is rendered light and 
spongy. In this process, the nature of the constituents of the flour 
is altered, for we are not able to obtain either gluten or starch from 
bread. 
Medical Properties AND Uses. Wheaten bread is one of 
the most important articles of diet, but requires no particular notice 
* The short awns distinguish the lammas from the spring wheat, (Triticum Sativum) 
which has awns three inches long. By some, spring and winter wheat are considered 
as varieties only, not as distinct species. 
t We are told by M. Taddei, that Guiaic is a test of the presence of gluten, by 
striking it with a blue colour ; therefore when flour exhibits this colour when rubbed 
with guiaic and a few drops of vinegar, it may be pronounced good : that is, that the 
whole of its constituents are entire, particularly the gluten, which is most sasceptiblw 
of decomposition. 
