Report addressed to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, relative to the grievances complained of by the journeymen bakers : with appendix of evidence / presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty.

Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report addressed to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, relative to the grievances complained of by the journeymen bakers : with appendix of evidence / presented to both Houses of Parliament by command of Her Majesty. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    “ of bran, pollard, &c., (365-6,) and therefore lost as human “ food. About one-fourth of this consists of the hard siliceous external coat of the grain, which is wholly indi- gestible, and therefore not a desirable substance to retain as food. The remaining three-fourths consist of the internal coat; this, however, instead of being indigestible, proves to be the most alimentary substance in the whole grain. “ 571. The investigations of M. Mouries have demonstrated that the internal coat of the wheaten grain is an infinitely more important alimentary substance than its mere bulk would indicate. It had been long known to be exceedingly rich in plastic or tissue-forming elements, and these were supposed to be chiefly gluten ; but it appears that they are almost entirely in the form of a substance possessing properties hitherto unsuspected. It belongs to a class of bodies known as catalytic agents (solvents), which, by simple contact, have the power of determining definite chemical changes. The substance, named by its discoverer ‘ cerealiue,’ has a most powerful solvent action, in the presence oi warmth and moisture, or gluten and starch, and promotes the easy and healthy digestion of those matters when taken as food. It is the true solvent prepared by nature- for the gluten of wheat for its assimilation in the system. It is to be found in minute par- ticles in most flours, small quantities of it becoming detached from the coating of the grain in the process of grinding and dressing in the ordinary way for the preparation of fine flour. But the aerated bread process affords the means of incorporating the whole of it, and of thus securing the whole nutritive and chemical value of the wheaten grain. That bread made by this process possesses all the properties which theory leads us to ex- pect, is established beyond doubt by the experience of nearly three years, and by the testimony of some of the most eminent men in the medical profession, who have had opportunities of'watching its effects as an article of diet. Wherever it has been introduced into the nursery its effects have been most marked. Its action upon the adult must be, and is, in like manner beneficial ; but in .this case its effects cannot be so easily or so specially noted, because there are generally several causes of derangement of digestion in adults besides that of fermented bread, the withdrawal of which alone will not effect an improvement.” The investigations of M. Mouries have received a further confirmation after an elaborate inquiry, as will appear from the following extract from the Comptes Rendus Heb- domadaires des Seances de l’Academie des Sciences, par MM. les Secretaries Perpetuels ; tome LIV. No. 7. 21 Fevrier 1862, p. 445, Memoire presente, Du froment et du pain de froment: Par M. M ege Mouries.” In this Mdmoir M. Mouries states, that a Report made by M. le Colonel Fave, in the name of a Commission issued by tlie