aris comprised the _rousset bread_, made of
meslin, and employed for soup; the _bourgeoisie bread_; and the _chaland_
or _customer's bread_, which last was a general name given to all
descriptions which were sent daily from the neighbouring villages to the
capital. Amongst the best known varieties we will only mention the
_Corbeil bread_, the _dog bread_, the _bread of two colours_, which last
was composed of alternate layers of wheat and rye, and was used by persons
of small means; there was also the _Gonesse bread_, which has maintained
its reputation to this day.

The "table loaves," which in the provinces were served at the tables of
the rich, were of such a convenient size that one of them would suffice
for a man of ordinary appetite, even after the crust was cut off, which it
was considered polite to offer to the ladies, who soaked it in their soup.
For the servants an inferior bread was baked, called "common bread."

In many counties they sprinkled the bread, before putting it into the
oven, with powdered linseed, a custom which still exists. They usually
added salt to the flour, excepting in certain localities, especially in
Paris, where, on account of its price, they only mixed it with the
expensive qualities.

The wheats which were long most esteemed for baking purposes, were those
of Brie, Champagne, and Bassigny; while those of the Dauphine were held of
little value, because they were said to contain so many tares and
worthless grains, that the bread made from them produced headache and
other ailments.

An ancient chronicle of the time of Charlemagne makes mention of a bread
twice baked, or biscuit. This bread was very hard, and easier to keep than
any other description. It was also used, as now, for provisioning ships,
or towns threatened with a siege, as well as in religious houses. At a
later period, delicate biscuits were made of a sort of dry and crumbling
pastry which retained the original name. As early as the sixteenth
century, Rheims had earned a great renown for these articles of food.

Bread made with barley, oats, or millet was always ranked as coarse food,
to which the poor only had recourse in years of want (Fig. 78). Barley
bread was, besides, used as a kind of punishment, and monks who had
committed any serious offence against discipline were condemned to live on
it for a certain period.

Rye bread was held of very little value, although in certain provinces,
such as Lyonnais, Forez, an