As a result of the chemical changes which take place in the fermentation of the flour and the subsequent application of heat, the composition of bread differs materially from that of the grain from which it is prepared. As already mentioned, the soluble albuminoids are rendered insoluble, and the starch is partially transformed into sugar (maltose). The unconverted starch is modified in its physical condition, the ruptured granules being far more readily acted upon by the digestive fluids than before. The proportion of soluble carbohydrates is naturally augmented in bread. The amount of ash is also somewhat increased, chiefly owing to the addition of salt, but it should not exceed a proportion of 2 per cent. The quantity of water in bread varies considerably. Wanklyn fixes 34 per cent. as the standard; greater proportions have, however, been frequently found. In ten samples of apparently normal bread, examined by E. S. Wood, Analyst to the Massachusetts State Board of Health, the amounts of moisture contained varied from 34 to 44 per cent. The quantity of water decreases very rapidly upon exposure to the air. Thus, Clifford Richardson[52] found that bread which showed 36 per cent. of moisture when freshly baked, contained but 5·86 per cent. after drying for two weeks. Stale bread would seem to contain water in a peculiar molecular condition, and, as is well known, upon heating (“toasting”), it reassumes the porous state. According to analyses collected by König,[53] the mean composition of bread is as follows:--