The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1894-02-28

contains an adequate supply of nourish-
ment for the above structures; otherwise
they are half starved and are quite sure to
be troubled in after life with decaying
teeth, contracted jaws, crooked spines and
legs and delicate muscles In an article in
The Tribune not long ago it was repre-
scented that the teeth of the American and
English children and young people are be
coming more and more defective. We
have not to look far for the chief cause of
the decaying teeth which often crowd the
poorly developed jaws of the rising genera
ton.
Today our children are fed largely upon
bread, cakes pie crusts and puddings made
from the finest white superfine flour. which
can be ground or rolled and bolted from
wheat and rye. A careful ANALYSIS of these
grains shows that Immediately beneath
the hull lies the dark portion of the ker
mel, which is hard, firm and very difficult
to grind or roll into fine flour, and more
or less of it is quite sure to remain I'm con
tact with the bran, and in boiling the rest
OF 1t is mostly separated from the fine
Hour Now, this dark portion thus dis
posed OF contains in excess the very sub
stances required to nourish the teeth bones
muscles and brain-namely, the gluten
and sphates-whereas the central or
white portion of the grain contains an eX-
cess OF starch, which is easily pulverized
and by boiling gives the superfine white
-four.
The superfine white flour is composed Of
an undue portion of starch which where
In proper proportion, as it exists in the
grain, is useful in supplying heat and fat
producing material, but it does not CON
tain enough teeth, bone, muscle, brain and
nerve nourishing materials to sustain an
imal life for any considerable length of
time. Consequently superline white -four
will keep in barrels and bags for long
time without being disturbed by insects,
worms or must, whereas the unbolted meal
Will not keep for any great length of time
without becoming unpleasant to the taste
Magendi, one of the ablest psychologists
who have ever lived, demonstrated by ex-
perlments that animals fed exclusively
upon the finest superfne -four died in
few weeks, whereas those fed on unbolted
flour thrived. During the study and prac-
tice of medicine for over 80 years the worst
cases OF scurvy have ever seen occurred
In girl or years old, who for some
weeks would eat nothing but toast made
from superfne -four bread only rescued
her from death by requiring her mother
to mix mashed potatoes with the -four from
which her bread was made
Imperfect development of the teeth
bones, muscles, brain and nerves is the in.
evitable result which follows if children
are fed largely on superfne white flour
cooked in any form, and deformity, dys-
pepsia and debility in after life. If par
ents care for the present health and devel-
opment and for the comfort of their chill
dren in after life, they should never let
any superfine -four or bread or cakes made
from such flour enter the house where their
children dwell. 1t is difficult to imagine
the immense harm to the present and ris-
ing generation which is being done by
the use of superfine white flour, and the
whittier the poorer it is. 1t should be ban
ished from use, and it is being banished
steadily by intelligent and liberal minded
people who are not slaves to habit and
fashion. | have known man when trav-
ellng to walk mile to get loaf of gra-
ham bread rather than eat white bread
To those who have been accustomed to eat
graham bread, cakes, ETC., white bread is
tasteless and without substance and alto
gether unsatisfactory.
Wherever people live on unboted wheat
or rye flour or meal they have good teeth,
bones or muscles. well remember, when
in Egypt in 1884, at Thebes, the little Arab
girl who, with vessel of water upon her
head, ran over the sand, stones, rocks and
hills as we rode upon our donkoys to visit
the tombs of the kings, for she had splen-
did teeth, sparkling eyes and beautiful
and well developed waist, symmetrical in
form and graceful in every movement.
On visit to the house of our Arab draRo-
man, or guide, to look at some curiosities
which had been obtained from the tombs
or the ancient Egyptians, we saw two wo-
men grinding at mill and making the
kind of -four which that young girl ate.
There were two millstones perhaps Is or
20 inches in diameter, standing in tray,
with an opening through the center of the
upper one for pouring in the grain and at
opposite sides erect handles The women
took hold of these handles and turned the
upper stone around and around and back
and forth, and the flour, or meal, came
out between the outer edges of the stones
said to our guide: "We have not had
bit OF good bread In Egypt, for at the ho-
tells at which we have stopped they think
that they must furnish superfine foul
bread for foreigners to eat. Now, | want
you to make us a loaf of bread from that
flour and bring it to our hotel tomorrow,
and will pay you for your trouble" lie
did so, and it was the best bread we had
in Egypt.
1t is wonderful to see the Improvement
In health development and vitality which
frequently ensues with delicate, sickly
children and even old dyspeptics, who have
been living largely upon unbolted wheat
or rye flour bread or pudding. But if the
stomach and bowels are weak from the
want of proper nourishment, or if they are
irritable or inflamed, then for limited
time, or until they gain strength and
health from the use of this more nourish-
ing food, it is necessary either to sift out
with coarse sieve the coarsest of the
bran from graham -four or to obtain -four
which has been ground from wheat which
has been huled before grinding, which can
be had in some of our cities. II this eau
tion is not needed by those beginning the
use of graham or unbolted -four, it will
not infrequently, in the cases named above,