f five bushels of wheat, and is upon an average
supposed to make eighty quartern loaves of bread; and consequently
sixteen of such loaves are made from each bushel of good wheat. It is
admitted, however, that two or three loaves more than the above quantity
can be made from the sack of flour, when it is the _genuine produce_ of
_good wheat_; that is, in the proportion of about sixteen and a half
loaves from each bushel of sound grain, and, it may be presumed, sixteen
from a bushel of medium corn. The expense, in London, of making the sack
of flour into bread, and disposing of it, is about nine shillings.

A bushel of wheat, upon an average, weighs sixty-one pounds; when
ground, the meal weighs 60-3/4 lbs.; which, on being dressed, produces
46-3/4 lbs. of flour, of the sort called _seconds_; which alone is used
for the making of bread in London and throughout the greater part of
this country; and of pollard and bran 12-3/4 lbs., which quantity, when
bolted, produces 3 lbs. of fine flour, this, when sifted, produces in
good second flour 1-1/4 lb.

[44] Whilst correcting this sheet for the press, the printer transmits
to me the following lines:

"On Saturday last, George Wood, a baker, was convicted before T. Evance,
Esq. Union Hall, of having in his possession a quantity of alum for the
adulteration of bread, and fined in the penalty of 5_l._ and costs,
under 55 Geo. III. c. 99."--_The Times_, Oct. 1819.

[45] There are instances of convictions on record, of bakers having used
gypsum, chalk, and pipe clay, in the manufacture of bread.

[46] See a Practical Treatise on the Use and Application of Chemical
Tests, illustrated by experiments, 3d edit. p. 270, 231, 177, & 196.

[47] Phil. Trans. for 1817, part i.

_Adulteration of Beer._

Malt liquors, and particularly porter, the favourite beverage of the
inhabitants of London, and of other large towns, is amongst those
articles, in the manufacture of which the greatest frauds are frequently
committed.

The statute prohibits the brewer from using any ingredients in his
brewings, except malt and hops; but it too often happens that those who
suppose they are drinking a nutritious beverage, made of these
ingredients only, are entirely deceived. The beverage may, in fact, be
neither more nor less than a compound of the most deleterious
substances; and it is also clear that all ranks of society are alike
exposed to the nefarious fraud. The proofs of this statement