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 will be shewn hereafter.[48] The author[49] of a Practical Treatise on Brewing, which has run through eleven editions, after having stated the various ingredients for brewing porter, observes, "that however much they may surprise, however pernicious or disagreeable they may appear, he has always found them requisite in the brewing of porter, and he thinks they must invariably be used by those who wish to continue the taste, flavour, and appearance of the beer.[50] And though several Acts of Parliament have been passed to prevent porter brewers from using many of them, yet the author can affirm, from experience, he could never produce the present flavoured porter without them.[51] The intoxicating qualities of porter are to be ascribed to the various drugs intermixed with it. It is evident some porter is more heady than other, and it arises from the greater or less quantity of stupifying ingredients. Malt, to produce intoxication, must be used in such large quantities as would very much diminish, if not totally exclude, the brewer's profit."