The native American., 1839-04-27
WOOD FLOUR.

II has been of late clearly proved that all the
alimentary matters employed by man may be re-
duced to three classes, viz. saccharne, oily, and
aiouminous substances, the most perfect speei-
mems OF which are respectively sugar, butter and
white OF egg. The saccllarine principles in It's
extended sense, includes all those substances
which are chiefly derived from the vegetable
kingdom-means, in fact, the same thing as what
we commonly call vegetable diet. II compre-
hends all those substances, whatever their sensible
properties may be, into the composition of which
the hydrogen and oxygen enter, in the proportion
in which they form waer---for example, what
perhaps may not little surprise the reader, the
fibre of wood, which chemists call lignin. Much
skilIul manipulation and del;cacy of experiment
were required to establish this result; but the nu-
tri,ive property OF the woody fbre in short, that
tolerabIy good quartern loaf can be made out of
deal board, has been proved by the recent la
bors of German Professor, and may be verified
by any one who will take the trouble to repeat
them. TO make wood flour in perfection, ae-
cording to Professor Auienrielh, the wood, after.
being thoroughly stripped of its bark, is to be
sawed transversely into disks Of about an inch in
diameter The saw-dust is TO be preserved, and
the disks are to be beaten to fbres in pounding
mill. The fbres and saw-dust, mixed together,
are next TO be deprived of every thing harsh and
bitter, which is soluble in water, BY boiling them,
where fuel is abundant, or by subecting them for
a longer time, to the action of cold water, which
is easily done, by enclosing them in strong
sack, which they only half fill, and beating the
sack with stick, or treadng it with the feet, in
arlvuet. The whole of them is to be completely
dried, either in the sun, or by fire, and repeated
ly ground in a hour-m,ll. The ground wood is
next baked into small flat cakes, with water rem
IpraI eli IL, L. Al ~. .t
some detection of linseed malow stocks and
leaves; me-tree bark, or any other substance
Professor Autenriell prefers marsll-maow roots.
Of which one ounce renders eighteen quarts of
water sufficiently mucilaginous and these serve
to form four pounds and half Of wood flour into
cakes. The cakes are baked until they are brown
on the surface. After this they are broken to
pieces and again ground, until the -four passes
through fine boiling cloth; and upon the fine
ness OF the flour does lis fitness to make bread de-
pend. The flour of hard wood, such as beech.
requires the process of baking and grinding to be
repeated. Wood flour does not ferment so readi-
~ as wheaton flour, but the Professor found fE
teen pounds ofbirch wood -four, with three pounds
OF sour wheaton flour, mixed up with eigh, n,ea-
sures of new milk yielded thrty-six pounds of
very good bread The learned Professor tried
the nutritious properties Of wood flour, in the first
instance. upon young dog; aiterWard he fed two
pigs upon il; and taking courage from the success
Of the experiment, he attacked it himself His
family party, he says, ate il in the form Of grues
or soup, dumplings and pancakes lilmade with
as 'lle OF any other ingredient as possible; and
found them palatable and quite wholesome Are
we then instead Of looking upon human being,
stretched upon bare plank, as the picture Of ex-
IRENE want and mretchedness, to regard him as
reposing in the lap of abundance, and consider
hencesorth the common phrase, bed and board
as compounded of synonymous terms!
Family Mugazine