Chapter II: BLEACHING of =Linen=:--Linen may be bleached in a similar way to (4)

_Proc._ The edges, after being filed or scraped quite clean, are covered with a mixture of hard solder and powdered borax, made into a paste with water. The whole is then allowed to dry, and is afterwards exposed, in a clear fire, to a heat sufficient to melt the solder. See AUTOGENOUS, SOLDERING, SOLDERS, &c.

=BREAD= (br[)e]d). _Syn._ PA'NIS, L.; PAIN, Fr.; BROD, Ger.; BROOD, Dut.; BRÖD, Dan., Swed.; BREOD, Sax. Loaves or cakes made from ground corn, and constituting the staple article of food of all civilised nations.

This important article of food is made of the flour of different cereal grains, but only those that contain gluten admit of conversion into light or spongy bread. In this respect wheat-flour is superior to all others. When this flour is made into a paste or dough with water, and the dough, previous to baking, is left for some time in a moderately warm place, a state of fermentation comes on, owing to the sugar of the flour gradually undergoing the process of conversion into alcohol, in every respect similar to that which takes place during the fermentation of wine and beer. In this process a large quantity of carbonic acid gas is liberated, and the toughness of the dough preventing its escape, the whole mass becomes puffed up and spongy, and a light porous paste is formed, the porosity of which is still further increased by the heat of the oven. The natural process of fermenting the dough just described is, however, tedious and uncertain, whilst the dough has a tendency to run into the acetous fermentation, and to acquire a sour and disagreeable taste, by which it is rendered less nutritious and less easy of digestion. This has led to the use of a ferment which produces a similar condition more speedily, and with greater certainty. Leaven or dough was originally employed for this purpose, and the bread so made was hence called LEAVENED BREAD. At the present time barm or yeast is almost universally used for this purpose. All that is essential to make a loaf of bread is to add a proper quantity of yeast to the dough, and to allow it to remain for a short time in a warm place, and as soon as it rises or becomes spongy, to subject it to the process of baking.

In preparing his dough, the modern baker takes a part of the water needed for the batch, and having rendered it tepid or lukewarm (80° to 90° Fahr.) by the addition of boiling water, dissolves his salt in it, and adds the yeast, together with a portion of the flour. With these he forms a thin dough, which he sets aside in a moderately warm place provided for the purpose, and technically called the 'kneading trough,' 'prover,' or 'tryer,' where it soon begins to ferment and swell up. This process is called 'setting the sponge,' and according to the proportion the water in it bears to the whole quantity that is to be used, it receives the name of 'whole,' 'half,' or 'quarter sponge.' Here the sponge heaves and swells, and ultimately the surface bursts and subsides, and if not checked swells again and again in a similar manner and would continue to do so until the whole of the 'saccharine matter' was destroyed, and the dough had become sour. The baker is careful, however, to stop it before it has communicated a sourness to the mass. After the first, or, at the furthest, after the second or third 'dropping of the sponge,' he adds the remaining quantity of flour, water, and salt, necessary to form the 'batch,' and then kneads the whole until it becomes sufficiently tough and elastic to bear the pressure of the hand without adhering to it. The 'dough' is now left to itself for a few hours, during which the fermentation still goes on. The inflated mass is then again kneaded, cut into pieces, weighed, and shaped into loaves. In an hour or two these unbaked loaves swell up to nearly double their former size, and are then placed in the oven and baked. During this operation they continue for a time to increase in size, in consequence of the dilation of the pent-up gas by the heat. At length the fermentation is checked, and the dough becomes too solid to admit of further alteration.

Such are the principles and practice of the art of baking. The operations are precisely the same on both the small and the large scale, and therefore need not be separately described.

The kneading of the dough by hand is not only a very laborious process, but it is unhealthy and additionally objectionable on account of its being uncleanly. Added to this, the uniform quality of the dough is not to be depended upon. Although it is impossible to perform by machinery any labour which absolutely requires the touch of the human hand, bread-kneading machines have been introduced wherever the making of only one and the same kind of bread is required. Amongst the numerous kinds of machines devised for bread-making, is Clayton's. (_See cut._)

The constituents of the dough are placed in the cylinder, _A_, mounted in the framework, _b b_, and provided with hollow axles, _c_ and _d_, turning in their bearings at _e_. The interior of the cylinder is fitted with the framework, _f_, which may be made to revolve by the aid of the axles, _g_ and _h_. The two halves of this framework are connected together by the diagonal knives _i_, _i_, which, when the machinery revolves, work up the dough; the trough or outer cylinder revolves in the opposite direction to the revolution of the framework. The crank, _o_, is connected with the axle of the trough or outer cylinder, the crank, _p_, with that of the inner framework; as the two cranks are turned in opposite directions, they impart opposite movements to trough and framework. The revolving of the machinery may be performed by one man by the aid of one crank, since the axle, _h_, of the crank, _o_, which is fitted to the inner frame by means of the hollow axle-tree, and revolves along with it, carries a conically shaped wheel, _m_, fitted to the wheel _k_, which, being connected with _l_, causes the trough also to revolve; when therefore the wheel _m_ turns towards the right, the wheel _t_ will revolve towards the left. Another kneading machine is that of Mr Stevens. It is employed at the Holborn Union, where more than 5000 _lbs._ of bread are made every week by one man and two boys.

_Adult._ The adulteration of both flour and bread is carried to a fearful extent, more especially in London. The baker's flour is very often made of the worst kinds of damaged foreign wheat; and other cereal grains, and particularly beans, are mixed with them in grinding them into flour. In this capital no fewer than six distinct kinds of wheaten flour are brought into the market--fine flour, seconds, middlings, fine middlings, coarse middlings, and twenty-penny flour.

Among the principal substances which have been proved to have been used to adulterate wheat-flour and bread are the following:--

**Alum.
*Ammonia (Sesquicarbonate).
**Beans.
*Bone dust.
*Chalk.
Clay.
Copper (Sulphate).
Lime (Sulphate from the soda water makers).
*Magnesia (Carbonate).
*Plaster of Paris.
*Potash (Carbonate and bicarbonate).
**Potatoes.
**Rice.
**Soda (Carbonate and sesquicarbonate).
*Starch (Potato).
**Water (in excess).
Zinc (Sulphate).

Of these substances, those marked thus (*) are very frequently used; and those marked thus (**) almost universally so.

In the absence of chemical analysis the unalumed loaf may be roughly distinguished from the alumed one by the following characteristics: it is neither so white, so bulky, nor so symmetrical; it bites shorter, and it is free from the sour taste which accompanies the presence of alum. Again, unalumed bread a day or two old will be found to crumble with great readiness; alumed bread, however old, crumbles, on the contrary, with difficulty.

According to Mr Accum, the smallest quantity of alum that can be employed with effect to produce white, light, and porous bread, from the inferior kinds of flour commonly used by the bakers, is from 3 to 4 oz. to a sack of flour weighing 280 lbs. But Dr P. Markham states that the ordinary bread of the London baker is made of one sack or 5 bushels of flour; 8 oz. of alum; 4 lbs. of salt; 1/2 gall. of yeast; and about 3 galls. of water. Our own analyses, extending to many hundred samples of London bread, as well as those of other chemists, show that even this large quantity of alum is often very much exceeded by the bakers.

Alkaline substances, as the carbonates of ammonia, soda, and potash, are often employed to realise the important consideration of producing light and porous bread from spoiled, or, as it is technically called, sour flour. The first salt becomes temporarily converted into a gaseous state during the operation of baking, causing the dough to swell up in minute bubbles, which thus render it light and porous; the salt itself being at the same time, for the most part, volatilised. Alum is added, not only with a like intention, but also to enable the dough to carry more water. There are several instances of convictions on record of millers and bakers having used gypsum, chalk, and pipeclay in the manufacture of their goods. A gentleman lately writing from the North of England says that he found in one sample of flour which he recently examined upwards of 16% of gypsum; and in another, 12% of the same earth.

A few years since it was discovered that some of the bakers in France and Belgium added blue vitriol to their dough to make it take more water, in the same way as the English baker uses alum. 1 oz. of this sulphate was dissolved in a quart of water, and a wine-glassful of this solution added to the water necessary to make about 50 4-lb. loaves. This enormous crime was soon detected, and deservedly caused the ruin of its heartless perpetrators.

_Exam._ The following are the methods employed for the discovery of the principal sophisticants of bread, and as the chief of these, and the one most difficult of identification is alum, we have given prominence to the processes now generally adopted for the detection of this article:--

1. ALUM:--_a._ (Robine and Parisot.) About 1/4 lb. of the suspected bread (somewhat stale or dry) is reduced to crumbs, macerated for 2 or 3 hours in cold water, and then squeezed through a clean piece of white linen. The liquid is next evaporated to dryness at a steam-heat, the residuum redissolved in a little hot water, and the solution filtered. Liquor of ammonia or a solution of sal-ammoniac, and a solution of chloride of barium added to the filtered liquid, give a white precipitate when ALUM is present.

When nearly the whole of the alum has suffered decomposition in the loaf, as is frequently the case, the following process is required:--

_b._ (M. Kuhlman.) 4 or 5 oz. of bread are reduced to ash, which is powdered and treated with nitric acid, the mixture evaporated to dryness, and about 1 oz. of hot water added. A little caustic potassa is added to the last solution (unfiltered), the whole boiled a few minutes, and passed through a filter. The filtrate is next tested with a solution of sal-ammoniac, and the whole again boiled for 2 or 3 minutes. If a precipitate forms it is alumina; every 50 gr. of which are equivalent to 332 gr. of crystallised alum.

_c._ The suspected sample is wetted with a weak solution of logwood, or, preferably, of cochineal. Pure bread is only slightly stained by this solution; bread containing alum strikes a lavender, lilac, or purple colour, according to the quantity of the adulterant present. If it acquires a pearl-grey or bluish tint, some alkali (potash, soda, or ammonia) is present.

_d._ (J. A. Wanklyn.) 100 grams of bread are incinerated in a platinum dish, capable of holding the whole quantity at once. The incineration is managed at a comparatively low temperature, and takes some four or five hours; the platinum dish being heated by means of a large Bunsen burner, abundantly supplied with air. It is well to continue the ignition until the bread-ash is nearly completely burnt, and it is advisable to weigh the dish containing the ash. The weight of the ash should not sensibly exceed 2 grams. The ash having been obtained is then moistened with 3 c. c. of pure strong hydrochloric acid, and then some 20 to 30 c. c. of distilled water is added, and the whole is boiled, filtered, and the precipitate washed several times with boiling water. In this manner a precipitate consisting of a silica, together with some unburnt carbon, is left on the filter, whilst the filtrate contains the phosphates. The precipitate, which, after being burnt, consists of silica, is weighed. The filtrate is mixed with 5 c. c. of ammonia (sp. gr. 0·880), whereby it is rendered powerfully alkaline and opaque, owing to the precipitation of the phosphates. It is finally mixed gradually with some 20 c. c. of strong acetic acid, and as the acid is being poured in, it is to be observed that the liquid is alkaline and opaque, until some 5 c. c. of the acid have been added; that when about 10 c. c. have been added the liquid is acid and much clearer, and that at least 10 c. c. of strong acetic acid are added after the establishment of a distinctly acid reaction. The liquid is then boiled and filtered, and the precipitates, consisting of phosphates of alumina and iron, well-washed with boiling water, ignited and weighed. The last step is the determination of the iron in the weighed precipitate, and this is accomplished either by reduction and titration with standard solution of permanganate in the well known manner, or else by a colour process, viz., by trituration with ferrocyanide of potassium. Having ascertained the amount of iron in the precipitate of mixed phosphates, it is only necessary to calculate it into phosphate of iron, and to subtract the weight of phosphate of iron from the total weight of the mixed phosphates, and the difference is the phosphate of alum yielded by 100 grams of the bread. The following results have been obtained by applying the above-described process to samples of bread presumed to be free from alum:--

_From 100 grams of Bread._

Precipitate
Bread-ash. Silica. insoluble in
acetic acid.
Grams. Grams. Grams.
A 1·408 ... 0·010
B 1·378 ... 0·006
C 1·730 0·018 0·010
D 1·620 0·032 0·014
E ... ... 0·012
(1)F 1·383 0·030 0·012
(2)F 1·324 0·025 0·014

The precipitate insoluble in acetic acid contained in every instance a large proportion of iron, but in some cases at least did not wholly consist of phosphate of iron. On deducting the quantity of phosphate of iron from the total phosphates insoluble in acetic acid, there remains a residue of some five or six milligrams. It would therefore appear that unalumed bread is liable to contain a minute trace of alumina, which, expressed as phosphate of alumina (Al_{2}O_{3}PO_{5}), equals five or six milligrams per 100 grains of bread, or 0·005 per cent. If the alum corresponding to this phosphate be calculated, it will be seen that 100 grams of unalumed bread may appear to contain 0·022 grams of alum; or expressed on the 4-lb. loaf, there may appear to be 6 grams of alum in it. This agrees very fairly with Dr Dupré's observation.

_e._ (J. C. Thresh.) The author states that this process requires only a few hours, and quotes experiments, showing the accuracy of the results:--

Take 1250 gr. of bread (from middle of loaf) or flour, and char thoroughly in a platinum dish or on foil over a gas lamp. Powder the char and mix it with sufficient pure strong hydrochloric acid to make a thin cream. Boil gently for a few minutes, then add 100 c. c. of water, and continue the ebullition a few minutes longer. Dilute to 150 c. c., stir well, and filter off 120 c. c., which will contain the alumina from 1000 gr. of the bread or flour. To this filtrate add a slight excess of solution of ammonia, boil for a few seconds. Then let the precipitate subside, and decant the supernatant fluid. Add boiling water to the sediment, and again set aside to settle, and decant the clear fluid. Pass the fluids through a small filter to collect any particles of the precipitate which may have been suspended therein, and throw the filtrate away. Now add to the partially washed precipitate about a gram of pure caustic potash (or soda), warm, and pass the solution through the same filter employed for the previously decanted fluids. Wash the filter with hot water, to which a little KHO may be added, and proceed to precipitate the alumina in the filtrate by adding a few drops of dilute phosphoric acid and excess of pure acetic acid. Heat the solution and precipitate to the boiling point, and then wash the latter by decantation and filtration. Finally dry, ignite, and weigh. The weight of the resulting Al_{2}PO_{4} in grams, multiplied by 400, will give the amounts of ammonia alum in grains present in one pound of the bread or flour.

_f._ (Mr Crookes.) The bread of which at least 500 grains should be taken is first to be incinerated on a platinum or porcelain dish, until all volatile organic matter has been expelled, and a black carbonaceous ash remains. The temperature must not be raised much beyond the point necessary to effect this. Powder the coal thus obtained and add about thirty drops of oil of vitriol, and heat until vapours begin to rise; when sufficiently cool, add water, and boil for ten minutes. Filter and evaporate the filtrate until the fumes of sulphuric acid begin to be evolved, when 10 gr. of metallic tin and an excess of nitric acid must be added, together with water, drop by drop, until action between the acid and metal commences. When all the tin is oxidised, add water, and filter. Evaporate the filtrate until fumes of sulphuric acid are again visible, when more water must be added, and the liquid again filtered if necessary. To the clear solution now add tartaric acid, then ammonia in excess, and sulphide of ammonium. Evaporate the liquid containing the precipitate suspended to it, in a dish, until all the smell of sulphide of ammonium has disappeared. Filter, evaporate to dryness, and ignite to get rid of the organic matter. Powder the black ash, boil it in moderately strong hydrochloric acid, filter, add a crystal of chlorate of potash, and boil for a minute. Now add chloride of ammonium and ammonia, and boil for five minutes. If at the end of that time any precipitate is observed, it will be alumina. From the filtered solution, if oxalate of ammonia be added, the lime will be precipitated; and if to the filtrate from this, ammonia and phosphate of soda be added, the magnesia will come down.

Dr Dupré is of opinion that no baker should be fined in whose bread the amount of alumina found corresponds with less than 10 grains of potash alum in the 2-lb. loaf, unless there is direct evidence of adulteration by alum independent of the result of analysis.

Mr Crookes says, "By treatment with a trace of alum, flour with a doubtful soundness is endowed with soundness. For this purpose a proportion of alum is required which does not exceed 20 grains to a 4-lb. loaf.

2. COPPER:--_a._ Moisten the suspected bread with a few drops of a solution of ferrocyanide of potassium. It will assume a pinkish-brown colour if copper be present.

_b._ A little of the bread may be steeped in hot water, or, better still, in water soured with a little nitric acid, and the clear liquor squeezed or poured off, and tested with ferrocyanide of potassium, as before.

3. MAGNESIA:--Bread adulterated with magnesia, on digestion in hot water acidulated with sulphuric acid, furnishes a liquid which gives a white precipitate when tested with a solution of either carbonate of potassa or of carbonate of soda, especially on boiling.

4. SODA; POTASSA:--Hot water after digestion on the ashes or charcoal turns turmeric paper brown. The liquid may be evaporated to dryness, redissolved in distilled water, slightly acidulated with hydrochloric acid, and tested with bichloride of platinum. If a yellow crystalline precipitate forms, either at once or after some hours, it is potash; otherwise the alkali present is soda.

5. CHALK, WHITING, BURNT BONES, PLASTER OF PARIS, and similar substances are easily detected by calcining a little of the flour or bread in a clean open vessel, when the amount of ash left will indicate the quantity of adulteration. The quantity of the ash left by genuine bread or flour is very trifling indeed, about 2%.

=Microscopic Characters of Bread.= When bread is placed under the microscope, starch cells, broken up into angular masses, or greatly enlarged, and stringy masses of gluten are usually visible; besides these, when a microscope of high power is employed, bacteria of the rod-shaped variety may frequently be detected, the source of these being, probably, the yeast. Great caution and diligent observation are necessary to guard against the falling into the serious error of mistaking the many curious forms the broken-up wheat starch presents for adulterants. By practice and the constant examination of the characters of unadulterated bread, combined with a practical knowledge of the appearance different starch grains present, after being more or less changed in shape by cooking, the microscopist may identify rice-flour, bean-flour, and Indian millet. Barley flour and potatoes, however, are very difficult of detection. There is very little difference in the shape of the barley-starch granule and that of the wheat, and in the process of bread-making the potato granules are so changed as to confuse all their distinctive characters. Bone-dust and a few other mineral adulterations may be detected by the microscope.

_Concluding Remarks._ A number of processes are used by cooks and confectioners to make the different varieties of fancy bread, cakes, puddings, &c., which vary according to the peculiar characteristic it is desired to communicate to them; but none of these articles properly belong to the trade of the common baker. Thus, some kinds of cakes and pastes are made to eat 'short,' as it is called, or are rendered less tenacious, and a species of brittleness imparted to them by the addition of starch, rice-flour, or sugar. In pastry a similar effect and peculiar lightness is produced by butter or lard, whilst in some articles white of egg, gum water, isinglass, and other adhesive substances, are added to produce an exceedingly light and porous mass.

The chief varieties of bread at present in use in this country are known according to their shapes, as--BRICKS, COBURG, COTTAGE, BATCH, FRENCH ROLLS, and RYE BREAD. These vary in their quality, chiefly according to the flour of which they are formed, and their various flavours depend upon the heat of the oven in baking. The best WHITE BREAD is made from the purest wheat-flour; ordinary WHEATEN BREAD, of flour containing a little of the finest bran; SECONDS, from flour containing a still larger proportion of bran; and common HOUSEHOLD BREAD, from flour produced by grinding the whole substance of the grain, without any separation of the bran. The last variety is undoubtedly the most wholesome and nutritious, although that least frequently used. SYMNEL-BREAD, MANCHET or ROLL-BREAD, and FRENCH BREAD are varieties made of the purest flour, from the finest wheat, a little milk being usually added for rolls, and butter and eggs for choicer purposes. Several other minor kinds of bread are also made, varied by the addition of sundry trifles, as sugar, currants, and other palatable ingredients. The SCOTCH SHORTBREAD is made from a very thick dough, to which butter, sugar, orange-peel, and spices are added, according to the taste of the maker.

In the manufacture of white bread from damaged or inferior flour a large quantity of alum is employed by the fraudulent baker, as already noticed; but with the 'best flour' no alum is required. The utmost beauty, sponginess, and sweetness may be given to bread without the addition of one particle of alum, provided the best materials alone enter into its composition. As such materials are seldom employed by the bakers, the usual practice is to introduce 4 or 5 oz. of alum to every sack of flour, or about 1 oz. to each bushel; and very frequently fully double this quantity of alum is employed. But even this enormous quantity is often not the whole of the alum present in common bread; for the miller, in order to cheat the baker, puts in the 'doctor,' in the shape of 4 to 6 oz. of alum to the sack, whilst the baker, unconscious of this victimisation, subsequently uses a double dose of alum in order to cheat his customers.[229] The method of detecting this pernicious adulteration has been already explained. The proper quantity of salt is 4 lbs., and never more than 5 lbs., to the sack, or 1 lb. per bushel. One sack of the best flour, with 4 or 5 lbs. of salt, yields about 360 lbs. of good bread; and a sack of seconds, 345 to 350 lbs. of bread; each being moderately baked. If the loaves are well-baked or over-baked, the product will be from 345 to 350 lbs. only; but if they are slack-baked or under-baked, from 370 lbs. to 385 lbs. of crumbling bread may be obtained from 1 sack of good white flour.

[Footnote 229: The common excuse of the bakers for using alum is, that without it the bread is not sufficiently white to please their customers, and that the batches are not easily parted into loaves after baking; but Liebig has shown that clear lime-water, which is perfectly harmless, will effect the same object if substituted for the simple water used to make the dough.]

The attention of chemists has, at various times, been directed in search of some method to rectify or lessen the effects of bad harvesting and improper storage on grain, so that a damaged or inferior article might be rendered serviceable, and available for human food. Prof. E. Davy recommends the addition of 1/4 oz. of carbonate of magnesia to about every 3 lbs. of sour, melted, heated, and similarly damaged flour. This substance materially improves the quality of the bread, "even when made from the worst new seconds flour;" whilst it is said to be perfectly harmless; and the bread so prepared, for temporary use, is certainly unobjectionable. What effects would arise from the daily consumption of such bread for several months has not been determined; but it is doubtful whether it would prove salutary. Indeed there are sufficient reasons for condemning the adoption of such bread in the general diet of a people for any very lengthened period.[230] Our own experiments in bread-making, extending over a long period of years, lead us to prefer carbonate or bicarbonate of soda for the purpose. Theoretically, the corresponding salts of potassa would be preferable. A mixture of equal parts of the bicarbonates of potassa and of soda will, perhaps, ultimately be found to be more useful than either substance used separately.

[Footnote 230: See GOITURE, MAGNESIA, &c.]

In times of scarcity and famine various substances, besides the flour of the cereals, have been made into bread, or have been mixed with it, in order to lessen the quantity of the former required by the people. For this purpose, almost every amylaceous vegetable at once plentiful and cheap has, in its turn, been eagerly appropriated. Acorns, beech-mast, the leguminous seeds, numerous starchy bulbous roots, and similar substances, have been employed, either in the form of meal, or made into an emulsion or jelly, which has been used instead of water to form the flour of bread-corn into a dough. At such times bran, the most nutritious and valuable portion of the grain, although usually rejected as worthless, has been retained in the flour, and has even been added to it in excess. Birkenmayer, a brewer of Constance, during a period of scarcity, succeeded in manufacturing bread from the farinaceous residue of beer (brewer's grains). 10 _lbs._ of this substance, rubbed to a paste, with 1/2 _lb._ of yeast, 5 _lbs._ of ordinary meal, and a handful of salt, produces 14 _lbs._ of BLACK BREAD, which is said to be "both savoury and nourishing." The nutritious quality of brewer's grains is shown by their extensive employment at the present day as food for pigs and cattle, and particularly for milch cows. In like manner Iceland, Carragheen, and other mosses, have been made into bread, either alone, or mixed with flour or meal. They are used, in the first case, in the state of meal, in the same way as flour; in the second case, 7 _lbs._ of moss are directed to be boiled in 10 or 12 _galls._ of water, and the resulting glutinous liquid or jelly to be employed to make 70 _lbs._ of flour into dough, which is then fermented and baked in the usual way. It is said that flour thus produces fully double its weight of good household bread. A simpler plan is to mix 1 _lb._ of lichen meal with 3 or 4 _lbs._ of flour; the bitterness of the lichen having been first extracted by soaking it in cold water. Bread so prepared has of late been highly recommended for the delicate and dyspeptic. The modern baker is in the habit of mixing large quantities of potatoes with his bread, whenever he can purchase them at paying prices. Mealy potatoes are selected, and are carefully mashed or pulped, and the dry flour is worked into this pulp or dough, which is then mixed with the sponge in the usual manner. For inferior bread, equal weights of potato pulp and dry flour are often used. Bread so prepared eats 'short,' and is deficient in sponginess, and in that fine yellowish-white tint which forms one of the characteristics of pure wheaten bread, More recently, rice boiled with water to a jelly has got into very extensive use among the bakers. A 'sponge' is made with a portion of the jelly thickened with some flour, and the whole process is conducted in the ordinary manner, except that the fermentation is generally more slowly conducted and allowed to proceed for a longer period. Flour so treated yields fully 50% more bread than when merely mixed up with yeast and water. This constitutes the process of Messrs Morian, Martin, and Journet, of Paris, which was tested, a few years since, at Marylebone Workhouse. The experiment succeeded, but the only result to the public has been, that the common bakers have adopted the plan, and now very generally surcharge their bread with such an excess of water that, in many cases, it only possesses two thirds the amount of nourishment which it did before the publication of the system just referred to. Unfortunately, the cupidity of dishonest tradesmen appears to be continually impelling them to avail themselves of the exertions of philanthropists and the discoveries of science, in order to increase their profits, regardless alike of the quality of their commodities and the health of their customers. Bread containing an excess of water rapidly becomes sour and mouldy, and is apt to disorder the digestive functions of those who eat it.

From the experiments of Dr Colquhoun, it appears that the starch of flour is partially converted into sugar during the process of fermenting and baking the dough, and thus contributes to the sweetness of the bread. He proposes to add to the flour, arrow-root, the farina of potatoes, and similar amylaceous substances, made into a jelly with hot water, for this purpose. Dr Percival has recommended the addition of salep with the same intention. 1 _oz._ of salep, dissolved in 1 quart of water; 2 _lbs._ of flour; 80 grs. of salt; and 2 _oz._ of yeast, gave 3 _lbs._ 2 _oz._ of good bread. The same weight of materials, without the salep, gave only 2-3/4 _lbs._ If too much salep is added, it gives its peculiar flavour to the bread.

In reference to the above substitutions, and to the relative quantity of bread produced from any given weight of flour, the reader should remember that the mere increase of the weight or bulk of the product does not carry with it a corresponding increase of the nutritive elements contained in the flour. These remain the same in all cases; and just in proportion as the product, in bread, is greater, will be the decrease in the value of such bread as food. So also with potatoes, rice, and other farinaceous and pulpy substances used as substitutes for wheat-flour. Their poverty in nitrogenous matter, or flesh-formers, is so great, that the greatly increased quantity required as food to support the body, apart from mere inconvenience, more than compensates for their apparent low price. Thus, good wheaten bread, at 2_d._ per _lb._, is more than twice as cheap as potatoes at 1_d._; for, assuming 2 _lbs._ of the first as a day's food, 10 _lbs._ of the last will be required for the same purpose; and even this large quantity will scarcely effect the desired object. Liebig has demonstrated that, regard being had to the nutritive power of wheat, it is, under all ordinary circumstances, the cheapest article of food provided by nature for man.

We have not entered into particulars respecting oven management, because, on the large scale, it is thoroughly understood by every practical baker. For the instruction of the busy housewife, however, we may state that the oven should always be sufficiently heated before the bread is put into it, in order that the gas contained in the cells of the 'sponge' may be expanded as rapidly as possible by the heat, and the resulting light mass quickly rendered sufficiently solid to prevent its subsequent collapse. The heat should also be maintained at nearly the same temperature during the whole of the time the bread is submitted to its action. In general, with ordinary kitchen ovens properly heated, 30 minutes' baking is sufficient for one-pound loaves and cakes; and 15 minutes in addition for every pound after the first for larger ones. Thus, a 1 _lb._ loaf requires 1/2 hour; a 2 _lb._ loaf 3/4 hour; and a 4 _lb._ loaf, 1-1/4 hour.

It is the common ambition of the English baker to give that peculiar tint to the crust of his bread in the process of baking which is so highly esteemed by connoisseurs, and so successfully produced by the Viennese and Parisians. It has been long known at Vienna that if the hearth of an oven be cleaned with a moistened wisp of straw, the crust of bread baked in it immediately afterwards presents a beautiful yellow tint. It was thence inferred that this peculiarity depends on the vapour, which being condensed on the roof of the oven, falls back on the bread. At Paris, in order to secure with certainty so desirable an appearance, the hearth of the oven is generally laid so as to form an inclined plane, with a rise of about 11 inches in 3 feet; and the arched roof is built lower at the end nearest the door, as compared with the further extremity. When the oven is charged the entrance is closed with a wet bundle of straw. By this arrangement the steam is driven down on the bread, and a golden-yellow crust is given to it, as if it had been previously covered with the yolk of an egg.

Pure wheaten bread is one of the most wholesome articles of food, and has been justly termed the 'staff of life,' and a certain proportion of it should be taken at every meal.

_New and Stale Bread._--As has been just stated, bread which has been kept for 24 hours after baking is more digestible, and therefore preferable to that which has been newly baked. This latter exhibits a well-known elastic appearance, and possesses a certain degree of moisture which renders its taste more agreeable to most persons than bread which has been kept for a day or two, and has become firmer and drier in appearance, and which is commonly termed _stale_. It is very generally supposed that this change in properties in bread which has been kept for a few days, is owing to the loss of water.

This, however, is not the case. The crum of newly baked bread when cold contains about 45 per cent. of water, and that of stale bread contains almost exactly the same proportion.

The difference in properties between the two is due simply to difference in molecular arrangement. Boussingault found that a loaf which had been kept for six days, though it had become very stale, had not lost more than 1 per cent. of its weight when new. The same loaf was then placed in the oven for an hour, and at the end of that time it had acquired all the properties and appearance of new bread, although during the second baking it lost 3-1/2 per cent. of water. In another experiment a portion of bread was allowed to become stale when enclosed in a tight case, to prevent loss of water by evaporation; it was then heated, and was thus restored to the condition of new bread; these effects were produced alternately, many times in succession, upon the same piece of bread; a heat of about 131° F. was found to be sufficient to convert stale into new bread. Every person who has seen a thick slice of stale bread toasted may have satisfied himself that the crum has during this operation been converted into the same condition as that of new bread.

_Fungi._ When bread has been kept a few days and has become stale, certain species of fungi show themselves in it: these are the _penicillium glaucum_, which is the green mould of cheese; the _fermentum cerivisiæ_ or yeast fungus; the _oidium auriantiacum_ or orange-red mould; the _puccinia graminis_ and others. Excess of salt added to the bread prevents the development of these fungi.

_Diseases arising from the employment of unsound Flour and Bread._--The flour may be ergotised or grown, and fermenting from the presence of fungi. All the poisonous symptoms of ergot are induced from continuously partaking of bread made with ergotised flour. Dry gangrene is one of the most virulent forms of poisoning caused by partaking of ergotised bread. Severe intestinal derangement is an accompaniment of the milder forms of poisoning. Ergot is more frequently present in rye flour than in wheat. Fermenting bread is a fertile source of dyspepsia, whilst acid bread causes diarrh[oe]a. This latter malady is also caused by the presence in bread of the _oidium aurantiacum_. Professors Varnell and Tuson state that mouldy oats, the mould being caused by a fungus (the _aspergillus_), have given rise to paralytic symptoms in horses, so that the presence of these fungi in oats used for making bread should always be regarded with considerable caution.

It has not been demonstrated that the acarus so common in flour has had any injurious effect when eaten. When well fermented and baked bread is very easy of digestion. It should never be eaten until it has stood at least 24 hours after being taken out of the oven. When newer, bread is apt to disagree with the stomach, frequently producing indigestion, biliousness, diarrh[oe]a, dyspepsia, and other like ailments. Bread prepared from meal containing the whole of the bran is the most nutritious and digestible, and should alone be given to children and growing persons, and eaten by the dyspeptic and delicate. Young infants should never be fed upon bread. See ALEUROMETER, ALUM, FLOUR, WHEAT, &c.

=Bread, Aërated.= The best description of unfermented bread is that manufactured by the process of Dr DAUGLISH. The method of manufacture has this advantage:--During the whole of the operation neither the flour nor the dough comes into contact with the flesh of the workman. For a full description of the method of preparing this article, _see_ Watts' 'Dic. of Chemistry.' See BREAD, UNFERMENTED.

=Bread, Amer'ican.= From American barreled flour. "14 _lbs._ of American flour will make 21-1/2 _lbs._ of bread; whereas the best sort of English flour produces only 18-1/2 _lbs._ of bread." (Mrs Rundell.) This arises from the superior quality of the wheat used in its production; and also from its being kiln-dried before grinding, by which much water is driven off.

=Bread, Bee.= The matter collected by bees to form the bottom of the hive. It resembles a mixture of resin and wax. Its fumes were formerly thought to be anti-asthmatic.

=Bread, Bran.= 1. From the whole meal, without sifting out any of the bran.

2. By adding about 3 _oz._ of bran to every _lb._ of ordinary flour.

=Bread, Cassava=, is made from the root of the _manihot_, by first expressing the juice, then grinding the residue into a coarse meal, and baking it in the form of cakes upon thin iron plates. When steeped in oil, and flavoured with cayenne, and slightly broiled upon a gridiron, it is not unpalatable.

=Bread, Extemporaneous.= See BREAD, UNFERMENTED.

=Bread, French.= _Prep._ 1. From fine flour, as the best white bread. For the better kinds, and for those intended for rolls and small fancy bread, the sponge and dough is commonly wetted with milk and water, and, occasionally, a very little butter is added. "When the rolls or small fancy loaves have lain in a quick oven about a quarter of an hour, turn them on the other side for about a quarter of an hour longer. Then take them out and chip them with a knife, which will make them look spongy, and of a fine yellow; whereas rasping takes off this fine colour, and renders their look less inviting."

2. FRENCH SOUP-BREAD. From fine flour, but employing fully double the usual quantity of salt. It is baked in thin loaves, so as to be nearly all crust, by which means it becomes more soluble in hot soup.

=Bread, Hick's Pat'ent.= This is ordinary bread baked in an oven so arranged that the vapours arising during the process are condensed in a suitable receiver. The condensed liquor is a crude, weak spirit, produced during the fermentation of the dough, and possesses little commercial value; indeed, insufficient to pay for the expenses attending its collection. Besides which, the bread prepared under this patent was rejected by the vulgar, who flocked to the shops of the neighbouring bakers, who professed to sell their bread with "the gin in it."

=Bread, Household.= This name is commonly given to bread made with flour from which only the coarser portion of the bran has been removed; and to bread prepared from a mixture of flour and potatoes. The following are examples:--

1. (Rev. Mr Haggett.) Remove the flake-bran from flour, 14 _lbs._; boil the bran in 1 _gall._ of water until reduced to 7 pints; strain, cool, and knead in the flour, adding salt and yeast as for other bread. Very wholesome.

2. Flour, 7 _lbs._; mealy potatoes (well mashed), 3 _lbs._; as before. Objectionable for the reasons already given.

=Bread, Leav'ened.= (l[)e]v'-). Using leaven instead of yeast, and in the same way. About 1 _lb._ to each bushel of flour is usually sufficient. The more leaven used, the lighter the bread made with it will be; and the fresher and sweeter the leaven, the less sour will it taste. Leaven, except among the Jews and sailors, is now superseded by yeast.

=Bread, London White.= The common proportions of the London bakers are--Flour, 1 sack; common salt, 4-1/2 lbs.; alum, 5 oz.; yeast, 4 pints; warm water for the sponge (about), 3 galls. The process has been already noticed.

=Bread, Paris White.= The following has been handed to us as the plan commonly adopted by the Paris bakers for their best white bread:--On 80 lbs. of the dough (before the yeast was added) from yesterday's baking, as much lukewarm water is poured as will be required to make 320 lbs. of flour into a rather thin dough; as soon as this has risen, 80 lbs. are taken out and reserved in a warm place as leaven for the next day's baking; 1 lb. of dry yeast, dissolved in warm water, is then added to the remaining portion, and the whole lightly kneaded; as soon as it has sufficiently risen, it is made into loaves, and shortly afterwards baked; the loaves being placed in the oven without touching each other, so that they may become crusty all round.

=Bread, Unfermented.= _Syn._ EXTEMPORANEOUS BREAD. _Prep._ 1. From Jones's patent flour. Very wholesome and excellent; indeed, when skilfully made and baked, almost equal to French bread.

2. From Sewell's patent flour. Slightly inferior to the last.

3. To each lb. of flour add, separately, 1-1/4 dr. of bicarbonate of soda, and 1 dr. of tartaric acid (both perfectly dry, and in very fine powder); rub them well together with the hands until thoroughly incorporated; then form the whole into a dough with water, as quickly as possible, and at once bake in a quick oven. About 8 or 9 oz. of water are required for every lb. of flour. Answers well when expertly managed.

4. Flour, 1 lb.; bicarbonate of soda, 1 dr.; mix; make a dough with water, q. s., to which 1 dr. of hydrochloric acid (commercial) has been added, and further proceed as before.

5. Whiting's PATENT BREAD:--This closely resembles the last. The proportions are--Flour, 7 lbs.; carbonate of soda and hydrochloric acid, of each 1 oz.; water, 2-3/4 pints. This method was suggested by Dr Henry in 1797, and was patented by Dr Whiting in 1836. If the proportions be not observed, or the mixture be not perfect, the quality of the bread suffers. The action of the acid on the soda forms common salt in the loaf.

6. AMMONI'ACAL BREAD:--Carbonate of ammonia, 3/4 to 1 oz.; cold water, q. s.; dissolve, add of flour, 7 lbs.; and make a dough, which must be formed into loaves and baked immediately, as before.--_Obs._ To ensure success the carbonate should be recent, and free from bicarbonate, the presence of which is known by its being white and powdery, and of inferior pungency. If any of the last salt be present, the bread will have a yellowish colour, and a slightly alkaline or urinous flavour. The process answers best for small loaves, cakes, and fancy bread. By employing pure carbonate of ammonia instead of the commercial sesquicarbonate, the process succeeds admirably, and the resulting bread is most wholesome. A late writer recommends the use of bicarbonate of ammonia, but evidently does so in ignorance, as in practice it is inapplicable, as the author verified by numerous carefully conducted experiments.

7. It has been at various times proposed to knead the dough with water highly charged with carbonic acid, on which Dr Ure observes that "the resulting bread will be somewhat spongy." He states that he endeavoured to make bread in this way, but never could succeed in producing a light spongy loaf. The quantity of gas in the water is much too trifling for the purpose, and the greater part of it escapes in the process of making the dough, even though all the materials be well cooled, and the operation conducted in a cold place. The only way of obviating the difficulty is to conduct the kneading in a trough under considerable atmospheric pressure, and at a very low temperature, by means of machinery, as is done by Dr Dauglish, whose method is now protected by letters patent. This method is not, however, adapted either to domestic use or the small scale.[231]

[Footnote 231: For a full description of Dauglish's process, see Watts' 'Dic. of Chemistry.']

_Obs._ Unfermented bread has been strongly recommended as being more wholesome, and generally better adapted to bilious and dyspeptic patients, than fermented bread. It must, however, be confessed, that the unfermented bread commonly met with has a slight 'raw-grain' taste, which is very disagreeable to some persons. But this taste is not necessarily present, being chiefly dependent on bad manipulation, the use of inferior flour, and insufficient baking. The process of fermentation doubtless modifies the condition of the starch and gluten of the dough, and renders them easier of digestion. This species of bread is sadly adulterated with a variety of indescribable messes. See BISCUITS, BREAD (_antè_), FLOUR, GINGERBREAD, &c.

=Bread Fruit= (_Artocarpus incisa_, nat. order Graminaceæ). The tree yielding the bread-fruit is a native of Central America, the South Sea Islands, and the Islands of the Indian Archipelago. It is principally composed of starch, sugar, and water, every 100 parts containing 80 of water. The fruit is gathered when the starch is in a mealy condition; it is then peeled, wrapped in leaves, and baked by placing it between hot stones. It then has the taste of sweetbread.

The natives of the countries where this fruit is found practise a method for preserving it, which consists in allowing the nitrogenous parts of the fruit to putrefy in water-tight pits. They thus obtain a mass resembling soft cheese in consistence, and this, when required to be eaten, is baked in the same manner as the fresh fruit.

=BREAK'FAST= (br[)e]k'-). _Syn._ JENTACULUM L.; DÉJEÛNER, DÉJEÛNÉ, Fr.; FRÜHSTÜCK, Ger. The first meal of the day; or the food served at it.

The morning meal--the 'early bit' of the Germans--is perhaps the most important one of the day. According to Erasmus Wilson, it is usually "taken at eight or nine." The proper time for the purpose must, however, depend upon that at which the party rises. About an hour, to an hour and a half, after leaving the bed, will generally be found the most appropriate time for breakfast, and appears to be the one pointed out by nature, and the most conducive to health. By that time the powers of the system have fully recovered from the inactivity of sleep, and the functions of the stomach and other viscera have again come into full play. The appetite is excited and seeks appeasing, and both instinct and reason direct us to the social board. If abstinence be now prolonged, the physical and mental energies, unsupported by the supply of food which indirectly gives them birth, gradually lessen, and incipient exhaustion ensues. The fluids of the stomach and the smaller intestines begin to act upon the coats of those viscera instead of on the food, and an unpleasant feeling of hunger or a loss of appetite comes on, with all its depressing consequences. When breakfast cannot be taken within a reasonable period after rising, the gap should be filled up by chewing a crust, a biscuit, or the like. A raw egg or two, sucked from the shell, or broken into a teacup and drank, will be found most valuable for this purpose. Raw milk, cheese, salted food, and other indigestible matter, should be particularly avoided at this early period of the day.

The articles of food to be chosen for the breakfast-table must depend entirely on the state of the health, the occupations, &c., of those assembled round it. Coffee appears to be, by common consent, the favourite beverage. For the delicate, the bilious, and the young, it should neither be taken too strong, nor very weak, and should be softened down with milk or cream, and well sweetened with sugar. Tea is more apt to affect the nerves and stomach than pure unchicoried coffee. Green tea, taken thus early in the day, often acts as an absolute poison, though a slow one. We have seen severe fits of vomiting and exhaustion follow its use.

The solid food for breakfast should be easy of digestion, and nutritious. Females, children, and persons leading a sedentary life, should confine themselves to a sufficient quantity of good meal-bread with only a moderate quantity of butter, to which an egg, or a small rasher of mild bacon, may be advantageously added. For very young children there is no better breakfast, where it agrees with them, than scalding-hot new-milk poured on sliced bread, with a slice or two of bread and butter to eat with it. Parties engaged in active occupations may extend their exploits somewhat farther, and add to this bill of fare a little ham or cold meat. When an undue time will elapse before the luncheon or dinner, and particularly during the colder season of the year, the broiled leg of a fowl, an under-dressed mutton chop, or a little tender beef-steak, will be found, by the parties last referred to, most useful; nay, in many cases, invaluable. But excess must be particularly avoided. The object is to take enough food to maintain the system in full energy and vigour, and particularly to avoid offending the stomach by overloading it; a misfortune easily effected at the breakfast table. Old commercial travellers--men wise in the mysteries of life and its enjoyments--are scrupulously careful to make a good, but not a heavy breakfast, before commencing the arduous duties of the day. See DÉJEÛNER, MEALS, &c.