The History of Bread: From Pre-historic to Modern Times

by John Ashton

But there is another and a kindlier explanation of the term, which rests on the authority of Constable, the painter, according to Yarrell, in his History of British Fishes, when writing of the Bullhead. ‘The head of the fish is smooth, broad, and rounded, and is said to resemble exactly the form of a miller’s thumb, as produced by a peculiar and constant action of the muscles in the exercise of a particular and most important part of his occupation. It is well known that all the science and tact of a miller are directed so to regulate the machinery of his mill that the meal produced shall be of the most valuable description that the operation of grinding will permit, when performed under the most advantageous circumstances. His profit or his loss, even his fortune or his ruin, depend upon the exact adjustment of all the various parts of the machinery in operation. The miller’s ear is constantly directed to the note made by the running-stone in its circular course over the bed-stone, the exact parallelism of their two surfaces, indicated by a particular sound, being a matter of the first consequence; and his hand is as constantly placed under the meal spout to ascertain, by actual contact, the character and qualities of the meal produced. The thumb, by a particular movement, spreads the sample over the fingers; the thumb is the gauge of the value of the produce, and hence have arisen the saying of worth a miller’s thumb, and an honest miller hath a golden thumb, in reference to the amount of profit that is the reward of his skill.’

Any notice of flour would, of course, be valueless without an analysis of its constituent parts, which, as anyone can understand, will vary in different wheats; there can be no standard, because of the difference of the soils on which it grows, a fact which is fully borne out by the following tables by famous analysts. Jago (The Chemistry of Wheat, Flour, and Bread, &c. Brighton, 1886), quoting Bell, says:—

Constituents		Wheat		Long- eared Barley	English Oats.	Maize.	Rye.	Caroline rice without husk.
		Winter.	Spring.
Fat		1·48	1·56	1·03	5·14	3·58	1·43	0·19
Starch		63·71	65·86	63·51	49·78	64·66	61·87	77·66
Cellulose		3·03	2·93	7·28	13·53	1·86	3·23	Tr’ces
Sugar (as Cane)	}	2·57	2·24	1·34	2·36	1·94	4·30	0·38
Albumin, &c. insoluble in Alcohol	}	10·70	7·19	8·18	10·62	9·67	9·78	7·94
Other nitrogenous matter soluble in Alcohol	}	4·83	4·40	3·28	4·05	4·60	5·09	1·40
Mineral matter		1·60	1·74	2·32	2·66	1·35	1·85	0·28
Moisture		12·08	14·08	13·06	11·86	12·34	12·45	12·15
Total		100·00	100·00	100·00	100·00	100·00	100·00	100·00

Professor Graham, in a lecture delivered at the International Health Exhibition, London, July 3, 1884, quoting Lawes and Gilbert, says:—

Constituents.	Old Wheat.	Barley.	Oats.	Rye.	Maize.	Rice.
Water	11·1	12·0	14·2	14·3	11·5	10·8
Starch	62·3	52·7	66·1	54·9	54·8	78·8
Fat	1·2	2·6	4·6	2·0	4·7	0·1
Cellulose	8·3	11·5	1·0	6·4	14·9	0·2
Gum and Sugar	3·8	4·2	5·7	11·3	2·9	1·6
Albuminoids	10·9	13·2	16·0	8·8	8·9	7·2
Ash	1·6	2·8	2·2	1·8	1·6	0·9
Loss, &c.	0·8	1·0	0·2	0·5	7·0	0·4
Total	100·0	100·0	100·0	100·0	100·0	100·0

Messrs. Wanklyn and Cooper (Bread Analysis, &c., London, 1881) say that, according to their analysis, this wheaten flour, which is the flour commonly to be bought in this country, has the following composition:—

Water	16·5
Ash	0·7
Fat	1·5
Gluten	12·0
Vegetable Albumen	1·0
Modified Starch	3·5
Starch Granules	64·8
–––––
100·0

A comparison of these tables by well-known analysts shows us, if we only take the single article of wheat, how the grain varies. Let me now say something about the constituents of wheat in as simple a form as possible.

The fat is of a yellow colour, and, as far as is known, is not a particularly valuable component part; but as all fats are foods, of course, it is of service.