Bread Of The Nations

It is a cuneras and mteresting sfrudy to compare the various materials which 6erve the different iiatious of the world as the basis oí' their bread. In this country, where good bread, made from spring and fall wheat flour, is within reach of all, rarely a thought is given to the fact that, after all, the inhabitauts of only a small portion of the earth's surface enjoy such food. In the remoter part of ÍS weden the poor make and bake their rye bread twice a year and store the loaves away, so that eventually they are as hard as bricks. Farther north still bread is made from barley and oats. In Lapland oats, with the inner bark of the pine, are used. The two together, well gronnd and mixed, are made into large, flat cakes, cooked in a pan over a fire. In dreary Kamchatka pine or birch bark by itself, well macerated, pounded and baked, frequently consti tutes the whole of the uative bread food. The Icelander scrapes the "Iceland moss" off therocks and grinds it into flour, which serves both for bread and for puddings. In some parts of Siberia, China and other eastern countries a fairly palatable bread is made from bnckwheat. In parts of Itaiy chestnuts are cooked, grouud into meal and used for making bread. Durra, a variety of the millet, is niucu used iu the countries of India, Egypt, Arabia aml Asia Minor for making bread. Rice bread is the staple food of the Chinese, Japanese and a large portion of the inhabitants of India. In Persia the bread is made from rice, flourandmilk; it is called "lawash. " The Persian oven is built in the ground, about the size of a barrel. The sides are smooth ïnason work. Thefire is built at the bottom and kept burning uutil the walls or sides of the oven are thoroughly heated. Enough dough to form a sheet about one foot wide and about two feet long is thrown on the bench and rolled until about as thin as sole leather, then it is taken up and tossed and rolled from one arm to the other and flung on the board and slapped on the side of the oven. It takes only a few moments to bake and when baked it is spread out to cool. This bread is cheap ( 1 cent a sheet) ; it is sweet and nourishing. A specimen of the "hunger bread" from Armenia is made of elover seed, flax or linseed meal, mixed with edible grass. In the Molucca islands, the starcny pith of the sago palm furnishes a white, floury meal. This is made up into flat, oblong loaves, which are baked in curious little ovens, each being divided into oblong cells to receive the lnavp.s. Bread is also made of roots in soine parts of África and South America. It is made from manioc tubers. These roots are a deadly poison if eaten in the raw state, but make a good food if properly prepared. To prepare it for bread the roots are soaked for several days ia water, thus washing out the poison. The fibers are picked out, dried and ground into flour. This is mixed with milk, if obtainable; if not, water is used. The dough is formed into little round loaves and baked in hot ashes or dried in the