18 Nebraska Agricultural Exp. Station, Research Bui. 8. 
These results are entirely in harmony with our conclusions. 
Increasing amounts of salt, up to a certain point, render the 
gluten tougher and tougher and hence lengthen the time of 
fermentation. It is probable that the salt controls the time of 
fermentation as well as the size and texture of the loaf thru its 
effect in modifying the physical character of the gluten, rather 
than thru its effect in controlling the chemical changes, as sug- 
gested by Freed. Bread made without salt is of poor texture, 
because, in the absence of salt, the gluten is soft and without 
elasticity and tenacity. Increase of temperature favors water 
absorption by the gluten. Higher temperatures also favor the 
production of lactic acid. More salt is needed therefore in warm 
weather to overcome the effect of these factors in causing the 
gluten to absorb water and so become soft and gelatinous. 
There is, without doubt, an optimum degree of toughness of 
gluten for the best results in bread making. Too tough a gluten 
may inhibit proper expansion of the dough, while too soft a 
gluten will permit the gas bubbles to break, producing a loaf of 
small size and inferior texture. It is thus to be expected that 
flours of widely different baking strength would not respond in 
the same manner to the same treatment. Treatment which would 
give favorable results with a ''strong" flour, that is, the addition 
of some substance which favors water absorption by gluten, 
would give unfavorable results with a ''weak" flour. "Weak" 
flours require treatment which will reduce the water-holding 
capacity of the gluten, such as the addition of neutral salts. 
These facts are sufficient to account for the conflicting results 
obtained by different investigators on the effect of the addition 
of different substances to flour in the baking process. 
WahP" has recently presented conclusions gained from a study 
of the effect of lactic acid when added to the dough in the bread- 
making process. No experimental data are given. He makes 
the statement that bacterial lactic acid produced by propagating 
Bacillus Delbruecki on media such as bran mash, crushed wheat, 
flours, stale bread, and the like, improves the quality of bread, 
and is more effective in this respect than commercial lactic acid. 
The effect of the various substances on the physical properties of 
gluten is not taken into account. From our results it is clear 
that acid solutions alone will not produce the same effect in 
modifying the gluten as acid solutions containing the extractives 
of bran or flour. 
Kohman et al.^^ have recently taken out patents on formulas 
'Wahl, Jour. Ind. Eng. Chem. 7, 773 (1915). 
*Kohman et al. Chem. Abs. 9, 2,784 (1915); 10, 232; 233 (1916). 
