Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-11-16
A Mode Of Improving Bread.
ny PROF. LIEDIG,

| ny PROF. LIEDIG,
tits known that the vegetable gluten Of the va
rious kinds Of grain undergoes a change when
moist In fresh condition, II is soft elastic, and
insoluble in water, but in contact with water it
loses these properties. Ifkept few days under
water, its volume is gradually Increased until II
dlssoves, forming a thick, mucilagiDous fluid,
which will no longer form dough with starch.
The ability Of -four to form dough is essentially
lessened by the property Of vegetable gluten 10
hold water, and 10 place it in tho state for exam
| pie, in which it is contained in animal tissues, In
meat, and in coagulated white OF egg in which the
absorbed water does not moisten dry bodies. The
| gluten of grain, In -four not recently ground, mr.
/ dergoes a change similar to that which il suffers
when in wet state,s for the -four absorbs moisture
from the air being, In very high degree, water
absorbing substance gradually the property Of tho
-four Of forming dough is essened, and tile quality
| Of the bread made therefrom injured. 1t is only
by artificial drying and keeping from the air that
| this deterioration il prevented. In rye flour this
change occurs as soon, perhaps sooner, than in
| wheat four Nfe 5f i8t S 81 l5e
| About twenty -four years ago the Belgian bakers
commenced the use Of remedy, by means of
which bread equal to that made from the freshest,
| best -four, was manufactured from -four which, by
itself, would give only damp, heavy bread. This
remedy consisted of an addition of alum, or Of
suphate Of copper, to the Hour.
\ The effect Of both these substances in the pre-
paration OF bread, rests upon the fact that when
warm, they form chemical combination with the
| gluten, previously made soluble in water and
changed thereby which restores to Il all its lost
properties, II is again insoluble, and capable Of
| holding water. tdss8 sAs t gat II nf sti 1E
| The relations of vegetable gluten to casoine,
with which it has so many properties in common,
| induced me to make some experiments, whose
| object was to replace both of the substances
(suphate Of copper and nlum) so deeterious 10
| health and TO the nutritious properties of bread
| by some substance having the Same effect las
regards the gluten,) but devoid Of Injurious quail
1 itieR. ga rsite hl0a1R
| This substance is pure, cold saturated lime
water lfthe lime water be mixed with the -four
intended for dough, and then the yeast or leaven
added thereto fermentation progresses IN the
same manner as In the absence of lime water. IL
at the proper time more -four be added to the
risen, or fcrmented dough, and the whole formed
into loaves and baked as usual sweet, beautiful,
fne.grained, elastic bread IL obtained of>exquisite
taste, which is preferred by all who have eaten il
any length of time, to any other.
| Tho proportion Of -four to lime water Is 1876
that s, for loo lbs -four take 90 TO ~ lbs or pnts
| Of lime water. This quantity OF limo water does
not suffice for mixing the bread, and of course
common water must be added, as much as is re-
quisite
4 As tht sour thSte Vi Drtdu II IOst 1nuCu more
salt may be used TO give ii palatable quality. ,s
/ As to the amount Of lime in the bread, lb. of
! lime is sufficient for 600 lbs of lime water. In
| bread prepared above, there Is nearly the same
| amount of lime as Is found in an equal weight of
peguminous seeds--(pess and beans)
II may yet be established as a physiological truth,
| by investigation and experiment, shat the -four Il
the cereal grains Is wanting in the property Of com
i plete nutrition, aud from what we know thereof,
the cause would seem to lie in is deficiency in the
lime necessary for the formation of the bones The
cereal grains contain far less lime than the leeu-
minous seeds This fact may explain many of the
phenomena Of diseases observed among children
In the country, or in prison, II the food consists
principally Of bread and In this connexion the
/ use of lime-water by physicians merits attention.
/ The amount Of bread produced from given
quantity of -four, Is probably increased in conse-
| quence Of an Increased water compound From
1 l9.lbs of -four, without lime water seldom more
| than "a l.2 lbs. of bread were obtained IN my
house, the same quantity Of -four, baked with
lbs. Of water, gave 20 lbs. o. 10 20 lbs 10
| or. Of good, well,baked bread Now, since nc.
cording TO Hecrens determinations, the same guam
| tity Of -four gives Only 25 lbs 3-5 or, the in
crease Of weight, in consequence Of the use Of
| line-water, appears to me indubitable. u
| As many persons may not be familiar with tho
process Of preparing me-water, recipe for the
Take four ounces Of lime and one gallon Of distill-
ed water First pour little of the water upon the
lime, 10 slake IL; ihen add the remainder Of the
ter and stir well together; cover the vessel mnsdi-
ately and set IL aside for three hours. Keep me
luton, together with the undissolyed lime In stop-
| pered glass bottles and pour off the clear liquid
when IL is wanted for Water free from saline
other obvious impurity may pc employed in this pro-
/ cess without distllling - 7tdBscr7pf. Il
A I f---- I'd
| AN EpIrApm--The editor of the Burlington Re.
corder bears witness that he recently discovered,
in fourishing city on fhe line Of the New Jersey
railroad, graveyard in which stood tombstone
on which was Inscribed by weeping friends the
following touching and simple, yet exqusitely po-
etic eptsph: Il H sIgth
| iaU 4 fl He was good egg" k5N -
| The Recorder at once proceeded to gid the gold
by composing the following addition:
Tread lightly DER This nest, we beg,
| Or else, perhaps, you'll smash the egg ~
We have no doubt as to the fax ofthc tomb.
stone case alluded to. Why should we, says the
/ Philadelphia Bulletin, when, in another part Of
4 New Jersey there are, in row, 6ve tombstones
bearing The following inscriptions:
! lie was q brick sit "a h
/ aB ag8 He was perfect horse. q
| .latts8i lie was whole team. X heNsf,s
4 m lie was some pumpkins
! lie was one Of 'em.
/ Wen, he wast ~
The sloop;ofwm Saratoga Is at present lying at