BREAD, a mass of dough kneaded and baked in an oven. See Baking. Bread, Assize of. See Baking. Bread-Fruit. Among the more valuable products of the warmer climates and the fertile islands of the Southern Pacific Ocean, is to be ranked the bread-fruit, or Arto-cαrpus incisa of botanists. Nature has favoured the tropical regions, and those countries in their vicinity, with inexhaustible quantities of the choicest vegetables, while, the inhabitants of the north are restricted to shrivelled berries and meagre roots; and if they have obtained a supply, always precarious, of some of the finer fruits, it is the result of patience, skill, and industry.

Ever since Europeans frequented the eastern world in commercial enterprise, it is probable that they were acquainted with the bread-fruit. How, indeed, could its properties be unknown to Quiros, who visited Otaheite so long ago as the year 1606? Yet the English navigator Dampier seems to have been the first European whose notice was particularly directed towards it, during his circumnavigation in the year 1688; and he expresses himself in these words: “The bread-fruit, as we call it, grows on a large tree, as big and high as our largest apple trees. It hath a spreading head, full of branches and dark leaves. The fruit grows on the boughs like apples; it is as big as a penny-loaf when the wheat is at five shillings the bushel. It is of a round shape, and hath a thick tough rind. When the fruit is ripe it is yellow and soft, and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The natives of Guam use it for bread. They gather it, when full grown, while it is green and hard; then they bake it in an oven, which scorcheth the rind, and makes it black; but they scrape off the outside black crust, and there remains a tender thin crust; and the inside is soft, tender, and white, like the crumbs of a penny loaf. There is neither seed nor stone in the inside, but all of a firm substance like bread. It must be eaten new, for if it be kept above twenty-four hours it becomes dry and eats harsh and choky; but it is very pleasant before it is too stale. This fruit lasts in . season eight months in the year, during which time the natives eat no other sort of food of bread kind. I did never see of this fruit any where but here (Guam). The natives told us that there is plenty of this fruit growing on the rest of the Ladrone Islands, and I did never hear of it anywhere else.” The bread-fruit, however, is found in still greater profusion, and in equal perfection, on many of the groups of islands scattered throughout the Southern Pacific Ocean; nor is it confined to them exclusively, but their soil and climate seem to correspond more intimately with the conditions of its vegetation.

There are two leading species of this plant, which are characterized by the presence or absence of seeds; the latter being the preferable kind, and that which is cultivated more carefully for its produce. The natives of the South Sea Islands maintain, however, that eight different species, or rather varieties, may be distinguished, and for which they have the respective names of Patteah, Eroroo, Awanna, Mi-re, Oree, Powerro, Appeere, Rowdeah. The leaf of the first, fourth, and eighth, differs from that of the rest; the fourth being more sinuated, and the eighth having a large broad leaf, not at all sinuated. In the first, also, the fruit is rather larger, and of a more oblong form, while in the last it is round, and not above half the size of the others. European observers, however, do not seem -in general disposed to recognise these as essential distinctions, although they admit other varieties.

As Dampier observes, the bread-fruit is a large tree, growing to the height of forty feet or more. It is thick in the stem, and has a luxuriant foliage. The trunk is upright, the wood soft, smooth, and yellowish; and wherever the tree is wounded, a glutinous fluid exudes. The branches form an ample head, almost globular; the leaves arc eighteen inches long and eleven broad, resembling those of the oak or the fig tree, from their deep sinuosities. The younger leaves, like all the more tender plants of the tree, are glutinous to the touch. The male flowers are among the upper leaves, and the female flowers at the ends of the twigs. But it is the fruit which constitutes the value of the plant, and this is a very large berry, according to botanists, with a reticulated surface, resembling a cocoa-nut or melon in size and form, nine inches in length. It is filled with a white farinaceous fibrous pulp, which becomes juicy and yellow when the fruit is ripe; and the edible portion lies between the skin, which is green, and a core in the centre, which is about an inch in diameter.

During a considerable portion of the year the breadfruit affords the chief sustenance of the Society Islanders. 1 It is prepared after different fashions, and its taste de-ļ pends in a great measure on the mode of preparation. It is insipid, slightly sweet, somewhat resembling wheaten bread mixed with Jerusalem artichokes, and it has been compared to a cake made of flour, egg, sugar, milk, and butter. In general it is cut in several pieces, and roasted or baked in a hole made in the ground, which is paved round with large smooth stones; and then it resembles a boiled potato, not being so farinaceous as a good one, but more so than one of ordinary quality. The stones are previously heated by a fire kindled in the excavation, [7:5:212] and the bread-fruit, being wrapped in a banana leaf, ĩš laid upon them, and covered with leaves and hot stones. In Otaheite, and in the West Indian Islands, several dishes are made of it, either by thus baking it in an oven entire, when it is considered to equal or surpass any kind of bread, by adding water or the milk of the cocoa nut, by boiling it, or forming it into a paste. This last is accomplished by taking the fruit before it attains complete maturity, and laying it in heaps, closely covered üp with leaves, when it undergoes fermentation, and becomes disagreeably sweet. The core being then drawn out, the fruit or pulp is thrown into a paved excavation, and the whole covered up with leaves, whereon heavy stones are laid: it thus undergoes a second fermentation, and becomes sour, after which it will suffer no change for a long time. A leaven may thus be formed of it, which is baked as occasion requires. In the island of Nukahiwa, an agreeable beverage can be obtained from it; and in the West Indies it can be baked like biscuit, and will keep nearly as long. The fruit is in the greatest perfection about a week before beginning to ripen, which is easily recognised by the skin changing to a brownish cast, and by small granulations formed of the juice. In the West Indies it is soft and yellow when ripe, and is in taste and smell like a very ripe melon.. Hogs, dogs, and poultry then feed on it readily.

Besides this, the bread-fruit tree proper, there is one that has been long known in India and the eastern islands, of which the fruit contains from forty to a hundred farinaceous seeds, in appearance resembling chestnuts. These when roasted or boiled are more grateful to many persons than the bread-fruit, and the negroes are very fond •of them. The external characters of the tree are scarcely to be distinguished from those of the other, and the chief distinction lies in the fruit, which attains nearly the size of that we have described, and is covered with prickles like a hedgehog. It grows from the seed with rapid vegetation, and attains larger dimensions than the proper bread-fruit tree.

The natives of those islands producing this useful vegetable collect it with very little trouble; they have only to climb the tree and gather the fruit. Nor is nutriment the sole purpose to which it is converted; for they have a method of fabricating cloth from the bark, the leaves are substituted for towels, and the wood is employed in the construction of their boats and houses. A kind of cement and birdlime is also prepared by boiling the juice exuding from the bark in cocoa-nut oil.

It appears that there are other vegetables of this class, producing fruit of inferior quality, but on that account receiving less attention. The bread-fruit proper is of easy cultivation in its native soil. In some of the islands it seems an indigenous product, and springs from the root of old trees without any care; in others, it requires simply to be put into the earth. The trees flourish with the greatest luxuriance on rising grounds; and it has been remarked, that where the hills of the Sandwich Islands rise almost perpendicularly in a great variety of peaks, their steep declivities, and the deep valleys intervening, are covered with trees, among which the bread-fruit is particularly abundant. It has also been observed, that although we are accustomed to consider Otaheite as of the greatest fertility in this plant, the trees of the Sandwich Islands produce double the quantity of fruit. Though nearly of the same height, the branches begin to shoot out much lower from the trunk, and with greater luxuriance. In Otaheite, they arc propagated by suckers from the root, which are best transplanted in wet weather, when the earth forms balls around them; then they are not liable to suffer from removal. This valuable plant is widely diffused in the southern and eastern isles, and it is generally found throughout the Great Pacific Ocean. It grows on Amboyna, the Banda Islands, Timor, and the Ladrones; but it is more especially the object of care and cultivation in the Marquesas, and the Friendly and Society Islands, where it vegetates in uncommon luxuriance and profusion.

The great utility of the bread-fruit as an article of subsistence for mankind has, at different times, led to speculations on the possibility of naturalizing it in places where it is not of spontaneous growth. Μ. de Poive, the philosophic governor of the Mauritius, succeeded in introducing it there, and in the Isle of Bourbon, whither it was conveyed by Μ. de Sonnerat, from Luçon, in the Philippine Islands. Being found in the greatest luxuriance under the same latitudes as the British West India Islands, and in a climate not dissimilar, government deemed the transmission of it thither, both as practicable without much difficulty, and as promising a future store of subsistence for the inhabitants. An expedition was therefore fitted out with particular care, under the command of Captain, then Lieutenant Bligh, who sailed in the Bounty storeship for the South Seas in December 1787. This vessel was prepared so as to receive a great many bread-fruit and other plants, which would have proved a valuable acquisition to the colonists of the West Indies, and some of which were expected to succeed under the culture of the curious in Great Britain. The Bounty arrived in safety at Otaheite, the principal place of her destination, and took on board 1015 bread-fruit plants, besides a great variety of different species of other plants, and after remaining twenty-three weeks, which were busily occupied, set sail on the 4th of April 1789. But it is unnecessary to say more of the expedition, except that it was rendered totally abortive by a mutiny which ensued three weeks subsequently to its departure. The captain and eighteen adherents were barbarously turned adrift in an open boat, wherein they suffered incredible hardships, and, after a navigation of 3600 miles, reached the island of Timor, having lost only one of their number, who was murdered by the savages of an intermediate island. Notwithstanding the unfortunate result of this voyage, the object was still kept in view, and a new expedition planned with still greater precaution than the former; and it has been said that his late majesty, King George III. took a lively interest in conferring so important a benefit on a distant portion of his people. Captain Bligh having arrived in England, was appointed to the command of the Providence and Assistance, two vessels specially fitted out as before; and part of their complement consisted of two gardeners, to take the management of the plants collected. The vessels sailed in August 1791, reached Van Diemen’s Land in February 1792, and anchored at Otaheite in February following. Here they remained above three months, and obtained even a greater store of plants than formerly; for there were now 1281 pots and tubs, whereas the first number of the bread-fruit trees, in 1789, did not exceed 887. Captain Bligh, in returning, made a dangerous voyage through Endeavour Straits, the exploring of which was part of his former instructions, and anchored at Coupang in the island of Timor, where he substituted many other plants for those that had died. He then sailed for the West Indies, and touching at St Helena, landed some breadfruit plants, and took on board those of different species. The object of his voyage was at length completed by reaching the island of St Vincent’s in January 1793, where he committed 544 plants, of which 333 were breadfruit, to the care of Dr Anderson, superintendent of the botanical garden, and substituted forthem 467 of different species, designed for his majesty’s garden at Kew. In the next place, Captain Bligh landed 623 plants, of which 347 were bread-fruit, at Port Royal in the island of Jamaica[7:5:213], and replaced them with a further collection for the king, with which he arrived in England on the 2d of August 1793. Five years and eight months had thus been occupied in accomplishing the desirable purpose of these two expeditions. But it belonged especially to Britain, by whom a familiar intercourse with the southern islanders was first opened up, to effect an object of so much importance.

Nevertheless, some have been found inclined to challenge the wisdom of so difficult and expensive an experiment; both because the expectations of those who looked for an inexhaustible source of subsistence were not speedily realized, and because the places best adapted for its culture already possess another vegetable, the plantain, which is much more grateful to the negroes, for whom the bread-fruit was principally designed. It has been argued that the bread-fruit tree requires considerable care in cultivation, that its progress to maturity is slow, though in Britain it would appear extremely rapid. Three years are required to reap the fruit; the plantain demands no care, while it produces its crop in fifteen months; thus giving it a decided preference in the opinion of the colonist, who is always impatient for a return. Further, it has been said, that wherever any vegetable, already relished by the inhabitants of a district, is completely established, they will always reject what they think less agreeable. These arguments have certainly had considerable weight; probably, however, from not duly appreciating the difficulties attendant on such an experiment as the naturalization of plants. But were we to take a retrospect of all the obstacles which have opposed the cultivation of many species of grain and fruits, at present not uncommon in Britain, it would be very evident that success has resulted only from the most patient and laborious attention. Positive conclusions on this subject are perhaps as yet premature.

In the year 1777 a premium was offered by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Manufactures, to any individuals who should bring the bread-fruit plant from the South Sea Islands in a state of vegetation to the West Indies, and the gold medal was awarded, in 1793, to Captain Bligh accordingly. That society, with the laudable design of promoting its culture, continued to offer further premiums for the greatest number of plants raised in the British settlements; and in consequence a silver medal was awarded to Dr Anderson, superintendent of the botanical garden at St Vincents in 1798; and, in 1802, the gold medal to the Honourable Joseph Robley, governor of the island of Tobago. From the course adopted by these two cultivators, the history of the bread-fruit has received much elucidation, and we shall comprise it in a few observations.

Mr Robley received three plants from Dr Anderson in June 1793, which he planted in very deep rich soil, and paid them every attention in hopes of procuring shoots. They flourished exceedingly, produced fruit in 1795, and continued to do so until autumn 1801, after which we have no notices respecting them. Being disappointed of obtaining suckers, Mr Robley applied to Dr Anderson, who advised him to lay bare some of the uppermost roots, and to wound them very deeply; and having followed these directions in October 1800, they almost immediately began to put forth shoots in abundance. In December, 120 fine plants were thus obtained, which Mr Robley placed in baskets containing about a gallon of good rich loose soil, and deposited in the shade in the vicinity of water. With this element also they were refreshed when the weather required it. Baskets were preferred to pots for the plants, from being lighter and more easily removed; likewise, because when deposited in the place where they were ultimately to remain, the baskets would speedily rot, and not repress the growth of the plant, which would then extend its roots. European cultivators would do well to attend to the beneficial use of baskets; for it too often happens that a tender plant is wounded in removing it from a pot, or that the earth surrounding it is so deranged and displaced, that no subsequent care can preserve it from destruction. Encouraged by the successful issue of these previous experiments, Mr Robley prepared a point of land of loose sandy soil, bounded by a salt lagoon and the sea, for receiving a large plantation. When the tide filled, brackish water was to be found everywhere at the depth of two feet and a half from the surface; but it had been observed in some of the South Sea Islands, that bread-fruit trees grew in full vigour though brackish water bathed their roots, and the point was otherwise defended from the encroachments of the sea by an artificial bank. The land being ploughed and harrowed twice, was divided into beds stretching across from the sea to the lagoon; the beds were twenty-seven feet in breadth, and the plants put into the earth in the middle of each, and exactly at the distance of twenty-seven feet asunder; thus leaving a large space for their vegetation. Mr Robley’s expectations were not disappointed. In August 1801 he had 153 plants in a flourishing condition; and, prosecuting the object still further, he had, in the course of the subsequent year, 371 on the point of land, of which no less than 319 plants were in a flourishing, and some of them in a productive state. He transmitted specimens of the fruit to England preserved in vinegar, as it will not keep above two days after being taken from the tree; as also of the dried leaves and blossom. Other correspondents, nearly about the same time, sent specimens of cakes made from the bread-fruit converted into flour, which were extremely well flavoured; and it seemed that a dry nutritious food, resembling tapioca in appearance and quality, might be prepared from it. The vegetation of this plant is very rapid. Ten of those committed to the care of Dr Anderson in 1793 were about two feet in height and half an inch in diameter; and he observed, that, in the year 1798, most of the trees in the botanical garden at Şt Vincents were above thirty feet in height, and the stem two feet above the ground was from three feet to three and a half in circumference. From the remarks he was enabled to make in this interval on the varieties of the tree in the botanical garden, it appeared that the fruit came out in succession during the greater part of the year, but less of it between November and March than at any other time. The number produced by a single tree was very great, being often in clusters of five and six, and bending the lower branches to the ground. According to the different varieties, the fruit was of various shapes and sizes, weighing from four to ten pounds, some smooth, others rough and tuberculated. When taken from the tree before maturity, the juice appeared of the consistence and colour of milk, and in taste somewhat similar. It issued for above ten minutes in an uninterrupted stream, and thickened into a glutinous and adhesive substance. Three months were required to bring the fruit to perfection, which, as above remarked, is about a week before it begins to ripen. Besides the Otaheitan breadfruit, Captain Bligh left some of the East India bread-fruit in the botanical garden. But this proved of infinitely inferior quality, and a very indifferent substitute for it. It was ill-shaped, of a soft pulpy substance, and, like the other, wanting seeds, and propagating itself by suckers springing from the root.

A species of fruit bearing considerable analogy to those above described, is found on the Nicoar Islands, but we are unacquainted with the degree of attention it has received, [7:5:214]either for the purpose of illustrating its natural history, or for economical uses. It is not less beneficial, however, to the natives. The tree producing this fruit vegetates promiscuously with others in the woods, but prefers a humid soil. Its trunk is straight, thirty or thirty-five feet in height, and from ten inches to two feet in circumference. The roots spring from it above the surface, and do not penetrate deep into the earth. The leaves are disposed like the large calyx of a flower; they are three feet long and four inches broad, of a dark green hue and tenacious substance. A long time elapses before the tree produces fruit, not less than about the period of human life. It then forms at the bottom of the leaves, from which it proceeds as it is enlarged, and, when nearly ripe, its colour changes from green to yellowish. This is the proper period for gathering it, when its weight is between thirty and forty pounds. The exterior surface is cut off, and the fruit is boiled in earthen pots covered with leaves, during several hours, on a slow fire; when, becoming soft and friable, the preparation is sufficient, and the fruit is then exposed to the air, and is next formed into a mass not unlike maize either in taste or colour. It may be preserved for a long time, but exposure to the atmosphere occasions acidity. The plant producing this fruit, however, is not of the same genus as those above described, although its fruit is converted to similar uses, but is rather a kind of palm, which it might be useful to naturalize in the eastern possessions of Britain, (n. n.) Bread, Sacramental, in the Protestant churches, is common leavened bread, in conformity to the ancient practice. In the Roman Catholic mass, azymous or unleavened bread is used, particularly in the Gallican church, where a sort is provided for this purpose, called pain a chanter, made of the purest wheaten flour pressed between two iron plates graven like wafer-moulds, and rubbed with white wax to prevent the paste from sticking. The Greeks observe divers ceremonies in making the eucharist bread. The Abyssinians have an apartment in their churches allotted for this service, being a kind of sacristy. Sirmond, in his disquisition on azymous bread, shows, from the council of Toledo, that anciently there were as many ceremonies used in the Latin church in the preparation of the unleavened bread as are still retained in the eastern churches.

Ecclesiastical writers enumerate other species of bread allotted for purposes of religion; as, first, Kalendarius, that anciently offered to the priest at the kalends; secondly, Prebendarius, the same with capitularis, that distributed daily to each prebendary or canon; thirdly, Benedictus, that usually given to catechumens before baptism, instead of the eucharist bread, which they were incapable of partaking of. The panis benedictus was called also panagium and eulogium, being a sort of bread blessed and consecrated by the priest, by which the catechumens were prepared for the reception of the body of Christ. The same was used afterwards, not only by catechumens, but by believers themselves, as a token of their mutual communion and friendship. Its origin is dated from the seventh century, at the council at Nantes. In the Gallican church we still find panis benedictus, pain benit, used for that offered for benediction, and afterwards distributed to pious persons who attend divine service in chapels. Fourthly, Consecrated bread is a piece of wax, paste, or even earth, over which several ceremonies have been performed with benedictions and other rites, to be sent in an Agnus Bei or relic-box, and presented for veneration. Fifthly, with regard to unleavened bread, panis azymus, the Jews eat no other during their passover; and exact search was made in every house to see that no leavened bread had been left. The usage was introduced in memory of their hasty departure from Egypt, when they had not leisure to bake leavened bread. Lastly, shew-bread was that offered to God every Sabbath-day, being placed on the golden table in the holy of holies.