120 BULLETIN OF THE BUSSEY INSTITUTION. 
No. 10.—A Contribution to the History of the Use of Bark 
Bread. By F. T. Dmurmenam, Instructor in Chemistry. 
Ir has long been remarked by travellers that the inhabitants of 
northern countries, in times of dearth, are accustomed to use the 
inner bark of certain trees instead of, or as an addition to, grain 
for making bread. Most authorities, and noticeably the more 
trustworthy among them, lay special stress on the use of bark 
from coniferous trees; though, as will be seen below, mention is 
sometimes made of the inner bark of birch trees. 
Thus Laing,* in his travels in Norway, remarks : — 
‘¢ Many of the dark, stern-looking pines were standing with all 
their branches dead. Stripped of their bark to make bread and 
burnished by the weather, resembling white marble, —mere ghosts 
of trees. ‘The bread is made of the inner rind next to the wood, 
taken off in flakes like a sheet of foolscap paper, and is steeped 
or washed in warm water to clear off its astringent principle. It 
is then hung across a rope to dry in the sun, and looks exactly 
like sheets of parchment. When dry it is pounded into small 
pieces, mixed with corn [7.¢. grain], and ground on the hand 
mill or quern. It is much more generally used than I supposed. 
There are districts in which the forests suffered very considerable 
damage in the years 1812 and 1814, when bad crops and the wars 
then raging reduced many to bark bread. The extended cultiva- 
tion of the potato since that period. has probably placed the 
inhabitants of the lower country beyond the necessity of generally 
resorting to it; but the Fjelde bonder use it more or less every 
year. It is not very unpalatable, nor is there any good reason 
for supposing it unwholesome, if well prepared; but it is very 
costly, for the value of the tree, which is left to perish on its roots, 
would buy a sack of flour, if the English market were open.” 
In his travels in Sweden the same author remarks : f — 
‘¢T had heard of an earth found in the Fjelde being used as a 
substitute for meal, as well as the common substitute of ground 
pine bark. . . . Bark bread is at present in general use in all 
this part of the country. The new settlers have no other meal, 
and bake it very thick that it may hold together. It is acrid, 
dry; yet covered with plenty of butter it is eatable. The older 
settlers have at present rye meal to mix with it, half and half, 
* S. Laing, Journal of a Residence in Norway during the Years 1834, 1835 
and 1836, London, 1859, pp. 219, 220. 
+ S. Laing, Tour in Sweden in 1838, London, 1839, pp. 181, 183. 
