Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1850-1854, 1853-05-27
PHILOSOPHY OF hREAp-nAKrNe.


Even as late as the seventeenth century
so imperfect were the mills, that it was est
mated that each individual required yearl,
between seven and eight hundred pounds 0
wheat for his food-twice as great as the pre-
sent estimate, with our we'll improved maehi
merry and best selected burr stones--a very
important fact, truly, when considered in re
ference to the hundred and thirty millions O
bushels raised annually in this country, Oh
the hundred sixty millions yearly consumed
in Great Brtan-whether the farmer shall
support twenty millions of persons by fine
pulyerization, or only ten millions by course,
or whether the British Isleshall support twelve
millions more inhabitants simply by having
the wheat ground into fine flour. Bran con
tains larger portion of strongly nutritive
matter, than the central portion of the grain
Hence the superior value of bran-bread. But
the high, nutritive value of the bran is dimin-
ished by its slowly soluble nature, and con-
sequently its inferior digestbility, unless it
is ground to fine powder, which, if thor
oughly done, would render bran bread the
best of all kinds, notwithstanding its di
minished whiteness. White bread is some
times obtained in another way, at the expense
of its nutritive value, although not of its
wholesolneness. Large quantities of very
small or refuse potatoes are bought in the CT
ties at half the usual price. These are made
to constitute a considerable portion of the
beautiful white bread sold at the bakeries
1t is said that ten or fifteen per cent of the
valuable clements of flour are driven off and
lost during the process of rising by yeast;
but the remainder is rendered so much more
soluble and digestible, that the nutritiye qua
ities are, onthe wholeincreased This change
is effected by partial fermentation, not un-
like that of malt, by the CONVERSION Of starch
to sugar, but the process must be checked at
a certain point, before sourness takes place,
by baking the bread. There is still another
change which takes place in bread after its
removal from the oven, which chemists do
not appear fully to understand After the
fermentation Of yeast has proceeded to a Ger
tain degree, it is suddenly and effectuaIly ar
rested by the heat of the oven; after removal
from the oven, another process takes place
during the cooling, by which it changes from
tough to an easy, friable state, or loses the
softness of its crumb, its nourishing and di-
gestive qualities being greatly improved at
the same time. This change in value and
texture has formerly been supposed to result
from the evaporation of moisture, and that
the superior nutritive value of stale bread, is
owing to Its more Commemorative form from the
expulsion of the water Boussingaut has
latel performed series of experiments, which
show that the change from a soft to brittle
crumb is wholly Independent Of the amount
of water contained in its substance; but seems
to depend on some new arrangement of the
PARTICLES too subtle for chemical tests to de-
tect He placed thermometer in the cen
ter of large Loaf, thirteen inches in diane
ter, and five and half inches thick, Just ia
ken hot from the oven, and found the tenn
perature about two hundred and seven de-
grees or five below boiling water constituting
III baked bread, half the weight of the flour,
and which must prevent its becoming heated
higher than two hundred and twelve degrees.
The formation of the crust prevents the es-
cape of this water, and also tends to exclude
the intense heat; hence an excessively hot
oven, may, by the thick crust it creates, acttl-
ally prevent the thorough baking of the in
terror. The hot loaf just spoken of, weighed
nearly seven pounds and half; it was pla-
ced in a room having temperature of abont
sixty-fve degrees. 1t required no less than
twenty four hours for the cooling to become
completely established, when its texture be-
came as crumbling as other stale bread. Du-
ring the cooling, it did not lose a M0usandM
part Of ats freight by drying. On the the
sixth day, when it was very stale, its loss of
moisture had not exceeded one-hundredth.-
Another experiment was made for transform
ing stale into new bread. A large loaf, six
days Old was placed in the oven. An hour
after, thermometer, placed in its center, in
dicated only one hundred and fifty-six de-
grees; yet the loaf, on being cut, was found
lost small portion of its moisture. A third
experiment was made. A cylindrical piece
of old bread was put into tin case, corked
tight and thus closely sealed, was heated in
hot water for half an hour, at a temperature
Of one hundred and twenty-five to one hun
dred and forty degrees no alteration in mois-
ture could, of course, take place, it became as
soft and elastic as any just taken from the
oven. In twenty-four hours it became like
half stale bread, and in forty eight hours full
ly stale. This experiment was several times
repeated, with success in the same portion of
bread. We mention all the experiments in
proof of what we at first stated, that the chem
zeal constituents of food are not alone to be
taken into consideration in Judging of its val
ne; and of the indispensable necessity of ac-
curate experiments, rather than chemical an
alysis, in settling all important points inprac-
tee, at the same time that analysis becomes
a most valuable auxiliary.-Couatry GEN
AemaR.
NEW MODE OF GEARING RECIPRO-
eating MOTION.