Part 82

_Diseases arising from the employment of unsound Flour and Bread._--The flour may be ergotised or grown, and fermenting from the presence of fungi. All the poisonous symptoms of ergot are induced from continuously partaking of bread made with ergotised flour. Dry gangrene is one of the most virulent forms of poisoning caused by partaking of ergotised bread. Severe intestinal derangement is an accompaniment of the milder forms of poisoning. Ergot is more frequently present in rye flour than in wheat. Fermenting bread is a fertile source of dyspepsia, whilst acid bread causes diarrh[oe]a. This latter malady is also caused by the presence in bread of the _oidium aurantiacum_. Professors Varnell and Tuson state that mouldy oats, the mould being caused by a fungus (the _aspergillus_), have given rise to paralytic symptoms in horses, so that the presence of these fungi in oats used for making bread should always be regarded with considerable caution.

It has not been demonstrated that the acarus so common in flour has had any injurious effect when eaten. When well fermented and baked bread is very easy of digestion. It should never be eaten until it has stood at least 24 hours after being taken out of the oven. When newer, bread is apt to disagree with the stomach, frequently producing indigestion, biliousness, diarrh[oe]a, dyspepsia, and other like ailments. Bread prepared from meal containing the whole of the bran is the most nutritious and digestible, and should alone be given to children and growing persons, and eaten by the dyspeptic and delicate. Young infants should never be fed upon bread. See ALEUROMETER, ALUM, FLOUR, WHEAT, &c.

=Bread, Aërated.= The best description of unfermented bread is that manufactured by the process of Dr DAUGLISH. The method of manufacture has this advantage:--During the whole of the operation neither the flour nor the dough comes into contact with the flesh of the workman. For a full description of the method of preparing this article, _see_ Watts' 'Dic. of Chemistry.' See BREAD, UNFERMENTED.

=Bread, Amer'ican.= From American barreled flour. "14 _lbs._ of American flour will make 21-1/2 _lbs._ of bread; whereas the best sort of English flour produces only 18-1/2 _lbs._ of bread." (Mrs Rundell.) This arises from the superior quality of the wheat used in its production; and also from its being kiln-dried before grinding, by which much water is driven off.

=Bread, Bee.= The matter collected by bees to form the bottom of the hive. It resembles a mixture of resin and wax. Its fumes were formerly thought to be anti-asthmatic.

=Bread, Bran.= 1. From the whole meal, without sifting out any of the bran.

2. By adding about 3 _oz._ of bran to every _lb._ of ordinary flour.

=Bread, Cassava=, is made from the root of the _manihot_, by first expressing the juice, then grinding the residue into a coarse meal, and baking it in the form of cakes upon thin iron plates. When steeped in oil, and flavoured with cayenne, and slightly broiled upon a gridiron, it is not unpalatable.

=Bread, Extemporaneous.= See BREAD, UNFERMENTED.

=Bread, French.= _Prep._ 1. From fine flour, as the best white bread. For the better kinds, and for those intended for rolls and small fancy bread, the sponge and dough is commonly wetted with milk and water, and, occasionally, a very little butter is added. "When the rolls or small fancy loaves have lain in a quick oven about a quarter of an hour, turn them on the other side for about a quarter of an hour longer. Then take them out and chip them with a knife, which will make them look spongy, and of a fine yellow; whereas rasping takes off this fine colour, and renders their look less inviting."

2. FRENCH SOUP-BREAD. From fine flour, but employing fully double the usual quantity of salt. It is baked in thin loaves, so as to be nearly all crust, by which means it becomes more soluble in hot soup.

=Bread, Hick's Pat'ent.= This is ordinary bread baked in an oven so arranged that the vapours arising during the process are condensed in a suitable receiver. The condensed liquor is a crude, weak spirit, produced during the fermentation of the dough, and possesses little commercial value; indeed, insufficient to pay for the expenses attending its collection. Besides which, the bread prepared under this patent was rejected by the vulgar, who flocked to the shops of the neighbouring bakers, who professed to sell their bread with "the gin in it."

=Bread, Household.= This name is commonly given to bread made with flour from which only the coarser portion of the bran has been removed; and to bread prepared from a mixture of flour and potatoes. The following are examples:--

1. (Rev. Mr Haggett.) Remove the flake-bran from flour, 14 _lbs._; boil the bran in 1 _gall._ of water until reduced to 7 pints; strain, cool, and knead in the flour, adding salt and yeast as for other bread. Very wholesome.

2. Flour, 7 _lbs._; mealy potatoes (well mashed), 3 _lbs._; as before. Objectionable for the reasons already given.

=Bread, Leav'ened.= (l[)e]v'-). Using leaven instead of yeast, and in the same way. About 1 _lb._ to each bushel of flour is usually sufficient. The more leaven used, the lighter the bread made with it will be; and the fresher and sweeter the leaven, the less sour will it taste. Leaven, except among the Jews and sailors, is now superseded by yeast.

=Bread, London White.= The common proportions of the London bakers are--Flour, 1 sack; common salt, 4-1/2 lbs.; alum, 5 oz.; yeast, 4 pints; warm water for the sponge (about), 3 galls. The process has been already noticed.

=Bread, Paris White.= The following has been handed to us as the plan commonly adopted by the Paris bakers for their best white bread:--On 80 lbs. of the dough (before the yeast was added) from yesterday's baking, as much lukewarm water is poured as will be required to make 320 lbs. of flour into a rather thin dough; as soon as this has risen, 80 lbs. are taken out and reserved in a warm place as leaven for the next day's baking; 1 lb. of dry yeast, dissolved in warm water, is then added to the remaining portion, and the whole lightly kneaded; as soon as it has sufficiently risen, it is made into loaves, and shortly afterwards baked; the loaves being placed in the oven without touching each other, so that they may become crusty all round.

=Bread, Unfermented.= _Syn._ EXTEMPORANEOUS BREAD. _Prep._ 1. From Jones's patent flour. Very wholesome and excellent; indeed, when skilfully made and baked, almost equal to French bread.

2. From Sewell's patent flour. Slightly inferior to the last.

3. To each lb. of flour add, separately, 1-1/4 dr. of bicarbonate of soda, and 1 dr. of tartaric acid (both perfectly dry, and in very fine powder); rub them well together with the hands until thoroughly incorporated; then form the whole into a dough with water, as quickly as possible, and at once bake in a quick oven. About 8 or 9 oz. of water are required for every lb. of flour. Answers well when expertly managed.

4. Flour, 1 lb.; bicarbonate of soda, 1 dr.; mix; make a dough with water, q. s., to which 1 dr. of hydrochloric acid (commercial) has been added, and further proceed as before.

5. Whiting's PATENT BREAD:--This closely resembles the last. The proportions are--Flour, 7 lbs.; carbonate of soda and hydrochloric acid, of each 1 oz.; water, 2-3/4 pints. This method was suggested by Dr Henry in 1797, and was patented by Dr Whiting in 1836. If the proportions be not observed, or the mixture be not perfect, the quality of the bread suffers. The action of the acid on the soda forms common salt in the loaf.

6. AMMONI'ACAL BREAD:--Carbonate of ammonia, 3/4 to 1 oz.; cold water, q. s.; dissolve, add of flour, 7 lbs.; and make a dough, which must be formed into loaves and baked immediately, as before.--_Obs._ To ensure success the carbonate should be recent, and free from bicarbonate, the presence of which is known by its being white and powdery, and of inferior pungency. If any of the last salt be present, the bread will have a yellowish colour, and a slightly alkaline or urinous flavour. The process answers best for small loaves, cakes, and fancy bread. By employing pure carbonate of ammonia instead of the commercial sesquicarbonate, the process succeeds admirably, and the resulting bread is most wholesome. A late writer recommends the use of bicarbonate of ammonia, but evidently does so in ignorance, as in practice it is inapplicable, as the author verified by numerous carefully conducted experiments.

7. It has been at various times proposed to knead the dough with water highly charged with carbonic acid, on which Dr Ure observes that "the resulting bread will be somewhat spongy." He states that he endeavoured to make bread in this way, but never could succeed in producing a light spongy loaf. The quantity of gas in the water is much too trifling for the purpose, and the greater part of it escapes in the process of making the dough, even though all the materials be well cooled, and the operation conducted in a cold place. The only way of obviating the difficulty is to conduct the kneading in a trough under considerable atmospheric pressure, and at a very low temperature, by means of machinery, as is done by Dr Dauglish, whose method is now protected by letters patent. This method is not, however, adapted either to domestic use or the small scale.[231]

[Footnote 231: For a full description of Dauglish's process, see Watts' 'Dic. of Chemistry.']

_Obs._ Unfermented bread has been strongly recommended as being more wholesome, and generally better adapted to bilious and dyspeptic patients, than fermented bread. It must, however, be confessed, that the unfermented bread commonly met with has a slight 'raw-grain' taste, which is very disagreeable to some persons. But this taste is not necessarily present, being chiefly dependent on bad manipulation, the use of inferior flour, and insufficient baking. The process of fermentation doubtless modifies the condition of the starch and gluten of the dough, and renders them easier of digestion. This species of bread is sadly adulterated with a variety of indescribable messes. See BISCUITS, BREAD (_antè_), FLOUR, GINGERBREAD, &c.

=Bread Fruit= (_Artocarpus incisa_, nat. order Graminaceæ). The tree yielding the bread-fruit is a native of Central America, the South Sea Islands, and the Islands of the Indian Archipelago. It is principally composed of starch, sugar, and water, every 100 parts containing 80 of water. The fruit is gathered when the starch is in a mealy condition; it is then peeled, wrapped in leaves, and baked by placing it between hot stones. It then has the taste of sweetbread.

The natives of the countries where this fruit is found practise a method for preserving it, which consists in allowing the nitrogenous parts of the fruit to putrefy in water-tight pits. They thus obtain a mass resembling soft cheese in consistence, and this, when required to be eaten, is baked in the same manner as the fresh fruit.

=BREAK'FAST= (br[)e]k'-). _Syn._ JENTACULUM L.; DÉJEÛNER, DÉJEÛNÉ, Fr.; FRÜHSTÜCK, Ger. The first meal of the day; or the food served at it.

The morning meal--the 'early bit' of the Germans--is perhaps the most important one of the day. According to Erasmus Wilson, it is usually "taken at eight or nine." The proper time for the purpose must, however, depend upon that at which the party rises. About an hour, to an hour and a half, after leaving the bed, will generally be found the most appropriate time for breakfast, and appears to be the one pointed out by nature, and the most conducive to health. By that time the powers of the system have fully recovered from the inactivity of sleep, and the functions of the stomach and other viscera have again come into full play. The appetite is excited and seeks appeasing, and both instinct and reason direct us to the social board. If abstinence be now prolonged, the physical and mental energies, unsupported by the supply of food which indirectly gives them birth, gradually lessen, and incipient exhaustion ensues. The fluids of the stomach and the smaller intestines begin to act upon the coats of those viscera instead of on the food, and an unpleasant feeling of hunger or a loss of appetite comes on, with all its depressing consequences. When breakfast cannot be taken within a reasonable period after rising, the gap should be filled up by chewing a crust, a biscuit, or the like. A raw egg or two, sucked from the shell, or broken into a teacup and drank, will be found most valuable for this purpose. Raw milk, cheese, salted food, and other indigestible matter, should be particularly avoided at this early period of the day.

The articles of food to be chosen for the breakfast-table must depend entirely on the state of the health, the occupations, &c., of those assembled round it. Coffee appears to be, by common consent, the favourite beverage. For the delicate, the bilious, and the young, it should neither be taken too strong, nor very weak, and should be softened down with milk or cream, and well sweetened with sugar. Tea is more apt to affect the nerves and stomach than pure unchicoried coffee. Green tea, taken thus early in the day, often acts as an absolute poison, though a slow one. We have seen severe fits of vomiting and exhaustion follow its use.

The solid food for breakfast should be easy of digestion, and nutritious. Females, children, and persons leading a sedentary life, should confine themselves to a sufficient quantity of good meal-bread with only a moderate quantity of butter, to which an egg, or a small rasher of mild bacon, may be advantageously added. For very young children there is no better breakfast, where it agrees with them, than scalding-hot new-milk poured on sliced bread, with a slice or two of bread and butter to eat with it. Parties engaged in active occupations may extend their exploits somewhat farther, and add to this bill of fare a little ham or cold meat. When an undue time will elapse before the luncheon or dinner, and particularly during the colder season of the year, the broiled leg of a fowl, an under-dressed mutton chop, or a little tender beef-steak, will be found, by the parties last referred to, most useful; nay, in many cases, invaluable. But excess must be particularly avoided. The object is to take enough food to maintain the system in full energy and vigour, and particularly to avoid offending the stomach by overloading it; a misfortune easily effected at the breakfast table. Old commercial travellers--men wise in the mysteries of life and its enjoyments--are scrupulously careful to make a good, but not a heavy breakfast, before commencing the arduous duties of the day. See DÉJEÛNER, MEALS, &c.

=Breakfast Pow'der.= _Syn._ RYE'-COFFEE, DILLEN'IUS'S C., HUNT'S ECONOM'ICAL BREAKFAST POWDER, &c. Rye, roasted along with a little fat, after the manner of coffee. It was once sold at 2_s._ 6_d._ the lb., and was formerly extensively used as a substitute for foreign coffee, of which it is one of the cheapest and best. Since the reduction of duty on coffee it has nearly fallen into disuse, unless it be by the grocers to adulterate that article.

=BREAST (Sore).= See NIPPLES.

=Breast Pang.= _Syn._ ANGINA PECTORIS. _Symptoms._--A sudden pain occurring in the parts covered by the breast-bone and the throat, accompanied with a feeling of suffocation, and the apprehension of immediate death. The pain sometimes extends down the arms and through the back. Summon a medical man without a moment's loss of time. Pending his speedy arrival give a drachm of ether with one third of a grain of acetate of morphia. Apply hot applications to the chest and stomach; likewise friction to the chest, back, and sides with spirits. If the relief be only partial, the dose of ether may be repeated after twenty minutes.

=BREATH (Fetid).= Scarcely anything is more disagreeable or disgusting than a stinking breath. Various means have been proposed to remove this annoyance, depending principally on the administration of aromatics, which by their odour smother it for a time; but these require continual repetition, and are liable to interfere with the functions of digestion. The real cause of stinking breath may generally be traced to a diseased stomach, or to decayed teeth. When the former is the case, mild aperients should be administered; and if these do not succeed, an emetic may be given, followed by an occasional dose of the Abernethy-medicines. When rotten teeth are the cause, they should be thoroughly cleansed, and then 'stopped,' or if this is impracticable, they should be removed. When this is impossible or inconvenient, the evil may usually be lessened by keeping them scrupulously clean. Dirty teeth also often cause the breath to smell; and hence the use of the tooth-brush should be a daily habit. Occasionally rinsing out the mouth with a little clean water to which a few drops of solution of chloride of lime, or of chloride of soda, has been added, is often an effective method. Mouth-washes of Condy's fluid, and also of carbolic acid, both very greatly diluted, form useful remedies; as do also chlorate of potash and tannic acid in the form of mouth-washes. As a tooth-powder, fresh-burnt charcoal, and particularly areca-nut charcoal, is without comparison the best. Lozenges, such as the following, have been strongly recommended to sweeten and purify the breath:--Gum-catechu, 2 oz.; white sugar, 5 oz.; orris powder, 1 oz.; neroli, 5 or 6 drops; make them into a paste with mucilage, and divide the mass into very small lozenges. 20 or 30 drops of oil of cloves may be substituted for the orris and neroli, at will. One or two may be sucked at pleasure. When the breath of a child or infant, usually so sweet and fresh, smells unpleasantly, it indicates stomach derangement of some sort. Very frequently it is indicative of worms. See CACHOU AROMATISÉ, PASTILS, &c.

=BREW'ING.= The art of making beer.

The only ingredients allowed by law to enter into the composition of beer are malt, sugar, hops, or any substitute for hops, and water, together with a little yeast.

The apparatus and utensils required under the common system, in brewing beer, are--

1. A copper or boiler capable of holding fully two thirds of the quantity proposed to be brewed; with a gauge-stick to determine the number of gallons of fluid at any given depth therein; and a wooden cover to place over it before the boiling commences, or when not in use. A copper capable of holding not less than 140 galls. is a convenient size for brewing a quarter of malt, and is commonly known as a one-quarter copper.

2. A mash-tub or mash-tun capable of containing one third more than the copper.

3. One or more tuns or vessels, to ferment the beer in.

4. Three or four shallow coolers, to reduce the wort as rapidly as possible to a proper temperature for fermentation.

5. One or two copper or wooden bowls, for baling, &c.

6. A thermometer with a scale reaching from below 32° to a few degrees above the boiling-point of water (say to 225° or 230° Fahr.).

7. A saccharometer, for taking the density of worts and beer.

8. A suitable number of casks (clean and sweet), to contain the beer.

9. One or more large funnels or tunners.

10. Two or more clean pails.

11. A hand-pump of a size proportionate to the brewing.

12. A mill, for crushing the malt. Brewers, for sale, are restricted by law to the use of mills with plain metal rollers.

These articles will vary in value from £10, upwards to many hundreds, or even thousands, according to the extent of the brewing; but the whole of them necessary for a private family may be bought for less than the former amount, as the mill, pump, &c., may then be dispensed with, and the rest may be of the simplest and least expensive character possible. By proper care they will last for 30 or 40 years, and still continue in a useful state.

Preliminary proceedings:--

The malt is chosen according to the intended character of the brewing--pale, amber, roasted, or any mixture of them, as the occasion may require. It is bruised or crushed in a mill (malt-mill) before employing it in brewing, that it may be the more readily acted on by the water. It should not be ground too small, as it would then make the wort thick, and cause it to run with difficulty from the mash-tun. The crushed malt may advantageously lie for a few days in a cool situation, by which it will attract a considerable quantity of moisture from the air, and be the more easily exhausted by the water used in mashing. Pale malt may be used coarser than amber or brown malt. A bushel of good malt should measure 1-1/4 bushel when ground; and a quarter should yield between 9-1/2 and 10 bushels, the quantity slightly varying according to the degree of bruising it has undergone. On the large scale, malt is ground in crushing mills furnished with plain iron rollers; on the small scale, by wooden rollers or mills worked by hand. For private brewing, the malt is generally bought ready crushed or ground, for convenience sake.

The hops, after being taken from the 'pockets' or 'bag,' are crumbled with the hands ready to be thrown into the copper. For general purposes those grown in Kent, and of the present season, are preferred. For the finer sorts of ale, East Kent hops are commonly used; and when it is intended to keep the liquor for a long time, those known by the names of Country's, Alton's, or Farnham hops, are employed.

The quantity of hops required by a given measure of malt varies from 2 lbs. to 22 lbs. per quarter, according to the strength or gravity of the wort, the character of the beer intended to be brewed, and the climate which the beer may have to sustain. Export beer requires, as a rule, an exceptionally large amount of hops to enable it to bear without injury the heat of the country to which it is shipped. The following are the usual proportions:--

Table beer 2 lbs. 1 qr. Mild ale or porter 4 " 1 " Brown stout 5 " 1 " Scotch ale (best) 5 " 1 " Strong ale (ordinary) 5-1/2 " 1 " " (keeping) 8 " 1 " Bitter ale 10 to 14 " 1 " East India ale (export) 12 " 22 " 1 "

When a strong, coarse hop is used, a less quantity suffices for the same strength brewed, but the flavour is always inferior.

The water, which should be clear, and free from all traces of decomposing animal and vegetable matter, must be provided in abundance. Of late years hard water has been preferred by many brewers, on the ground that beer brewed with it is self-fining, and hence requires no artificial clarification either in the vat or cask.

Hard water is also much to be preferred to soft in brewing stock beers; since by its rendering the albuminous matters contained in the mash insoluble, it prevents the fermentation to which these would otherwise give rise, and so assists in the preservation of the beer, and in keeping it free from acidity.