The true northerner., 1875-05-14
The staff OF Life.

Two thousand years ago Hippocrates,
the father of medicine" who depended
far more on correct diet and general regi-
men both for the prevention and removal
of disease, than he did on medicine, par
ticularly commended the unbolted wheat
meal for bread. The ancient wrestlers,
who were trained for great bodily power,
ate only the coarse wheaton meal bread
to preserve the strength of their limbs.
Pliny tells us that the Spartans, during
the period when they were most remark
able for bodily vigor and personal powera,
knew no other bread for three hundred
years.
when England and France were waging
war with each other, the British
Parliment passed law, to take effect for
two years, that the army at home should
be supplied with bread made from un-
bolted wheat meal, solely for the purpose
of making the wheat go as far as possible.
At first the soldiers were exceedingly dis
pleased with this kind of bread and re-
fused to eat it, but after two or three
weeks they preferredit to fine -four bread.
The result of the experiment was that
the health of soldiers improved so much
and so manifestly in the course of q few
months that the officers and physicians
of the army publicly declared that the
soldiers were never before so healthy and
robust, and that diseases of many kinds
had almost entirely disappeared from the
army. For while the use of this bread
was almost universal in public institutions
and III private families, and it was pro-
nounced by the civic physicians by far
the most healthy bread that could be
eaten. The testimony Of sea-captains
and whalemen is equally in favor of
wheaton bread. " The coarser my ship
bread is, the healthier is my crew." said
a very intelligent sea-captain of over 30
years experience. The inhabitants of
Westphalia, who are hardy and robust
people, capable of enduring the greatest
fatigues, are living testimony to the
salutaIy effects of this sort of bread and
it is remarkable that they are very seldom
attacked by acute fevers, and those other
diseases which arise from bad humors.
In fact the laboring class throughout
Europe, Asia and Africa use bread made
of the whole grain happily for them
they cannot afford to buy fine flour.
The most intelligent class of people
in our large cities have bread made of
unbolted wheat on their tables every day,
and depend upon it ; but i'll country
places the idea prevails that it is cheap
and coarse, and that to feed a guest on
Graham bread would be inhospitality.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
Our first-class hotels have regularly on
their bills of fare " cracked wheat"
homminy," "oatmeal mush ;" and
some advanced teachers of hygiene are
beginning to hope that the reign of fine
-four is passing away.
In preparing articles of food from the
whole wheat, very much of their palata-
bleness depends on the manner III which
they are compounded. Bread of unbolt-
ed flour should be nodded soft and baked
quite hard. 1t may be raised just as
bread of fine flour is raised, with yeast,
with sour milk and soda, with yeast pow
der, or, best of all, most palatable and
nutritious, be mixed with milk and water
in equal proportions and baked in "gem
pans" in a very hot oven. This is the
most wholesome form in which wheat
can be made into bread.-Ne,O York
TriHlIJle