324 
WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
poiing the bread to a high heat, and the solubility of this new 
product, is often taken advantage of in the preparation of toast 
water for the sick. 
The interior of the loaf never reaches a temperature above 
that of boiling water, and hence the crumb of the bread is not 
materially changed in the oven, except the mechanical change 
accompanying the loss of water and the expansion of the gas. 
The object is to have it soft and porous, that it may readily ab¬ 
sorb the saliva and gastric juices, by which it is dissolved and 
prepared to be taken into the circulation. 
If allowed to stand for several days after baking, bread be¬ 
comes dry or stale, a condition that is generally supposed to be 
owing to a loss of water. 
This, however, cannot be the case, as if this “ dry ” bread 
be subjected to a temperature of 160 deg. to 180 deg., it re¬ 
gains much of its original freshness, which it could not do if 
drying were the cause of becoming stale. Indeed, experiment 
has shown that bread by exposure may become stale, and its 
freshness be restored by heat several times, while during all 
these changes but a slight diminution of weight takes place, 
and also that at comparatively low temperatures, bread will 
become stale even in an atmosphere saturated with moisture. 
M. M. Boussingault and Thenard suppose this phenomenon 
to be due to a molecular change depending upon temperature, 
which takes place in the bread. Heat softens it, while at lower 
temperatures it hardens, a process somewhat analogous to the 
liquefaction and and resolidifying of wax or caoutchouc, pro¬ 
duced by proper changes of temperature. 
In ovens very little improvement has been made for many 
centuries, as those used by the majority of bakers of the pres¬ 
ent day, differ but slightly from those excavated from the ruins 
of Pompeii. In large manufacturing bakeries, however, some 
improvements have been made, of which W. E Johnston, M. D., 
U. S. commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 1867, writes as 
follows : “ The ovens of all good modern bakeries, are made 
on an inclined plane—an angle of 8 deg. in the best ovens. 
