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favorite with sportsmen and sometimes weighing 150 lbs.), sea trout, channel and black bass, grouper, mullet, snapper, redfish, sheepshead, and drumfish. There are 5 poisonous species of snake, and sand-flies, mosquitoes, and gnats are numerous in swampy places.

Botany.-Among trees and shrubs are the magnolia, papaw, canella, caper tree, linden, satinwood, mahogany, torchwood, quassia, silver and red maple, redbud, mimosa, cocoaplum, wild plum, mock-orange, sweet gum, dogwood, rhododendron, holly, persimmon, sassafras, mangrove, wild mulberry, wild fig, slippery and common elm, sycamore, hickory, hazel, black birch, 4 species of pine, the long-leafed being particularly abundant, juniper, cypress, red cedar, yew, zamia or arrow-root, cabbage palmetto, saw palmetto, and dwarf palmetto, and yucca. Among plants are 5 species of pitcher plant, Mexican poppy, rose-mallow, passion flower, wistaria, rhexia, yellow jessamine, phlox, mistletoe, epidendrum, amaryllis, tillandsia, yam, and spiderwort. The castor-oil plant is a perennial tree here.

Soil and Climate.-F., for agricultural purposes, is divided into (a) the oak and hickory and pine upland region, comprising most of the northern tier of cos. of middle and western F. The soil is a brown sand or red clay loam over clay or sand, both underlaid by calcareous limestone, sand or clay. Cereals, vegetables, root-crops, and oranges are raised here. (b) The long-leafed pine region, which lies chiefly in northern and central F., divided into rolling, flat, and haminock or hummock lands. The first named have a dark sandy loam, or sometimes a white sand, with usually a stiff clay loam or marl subsoil, and produce oranges, semi-tropical fruits, and cotton. The poorer class of land is more sandy above and below, and often soggy. The high hammock lands, usually undulating and covered with hard wood timber, have a brownish red or blackish sandy soil, with yellow sand subsoil or often one of marl or rotten limestone. The low hammock lands are generally moist and covered with pine, cypress, etc. The hammocks yield oranges, sugarcane, long-staple cotton, and a great variety of crops, according to elevation. The Gulf hammocks," composed of white or gray sand over limestone, produce oranges and sea-island cotton. (c) The pitch pine, treeless and alluvial region, s. of a line drawn from cape Canaveral to Charlotte harbor, has a varied soil, and yields tropical fruits, corn, sugarcane, and sweet potatoes. Fertilizers are necessary everywhere after a certain time, and the state furnishes its own supply from the shell deposits that abound and the beds of lime and phosphate rock, or of natural muck.

The climate is free from extremes, the winter temperature seldom falling below 32° ; the summer temperature seldom exceeding 90°. The average temperature in summer is 78°; in winter. 60°. June, July, and Aug. are the hottest months; Dec., Jan., and Feb., the coldest. During the summer a breeze blows from the Atlantic during the day, succeeded at nightfall by one from the Gulf, and throughout the year the nights are almost invariably cool. The mean temperature for 20 years at Key West was in Jan., 66.68 Apr., 75.58°; July, 83.00°; Oct., 78.11°; the yearly mean, 76.51°, and the rainfall, 36.49°. At St. Augustine in Jan. the temperature was 57.03°; in Apr., 68.78°; July, 80.90° Oct,71.85; the yearly mean was 69.61°; rainfall, 47.86°. The records at St. Augustine show that for more than a century the average of summer months was 86°, and of winter months, about 60°. There is little of spring or autumn, and summer may be said to last for two thirds of the year. June, July, and Aug. constitute the rainy season, and in winter rains are exceptional. During a period of 5 years the mean relative humidity for 5 months at Punta Rassa was 72.7; at Key West, 76.8°; at Jacksonville. 68.8. The rainfall at Punta Rassa was 8.77°; Key West, 9.10; Jacksonville, 16.62°. Droughts are rare; as are frosts, below lat. 28°. F. is considered highly favorable to persons afflicted with throat and lung complaints.

Agriculture.-Northern F. produces upland and sea-island cotton, cereals, root-crops, jate, ramie, rice, potatoes, tobacco, apples, figs, peaches, pears, and, to some extent, oranges and lemons. Middle F., or that part between parallels 28° and 30°, yields cotton, sugarcane, sweet and Irish potatoes, tobacco, rice, oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits, arrow-root, grapes, guavas, vegetables, and small fruits of all kinds. South of parallel 23' are grown cane, bananas, pineapples, olives, cocoanuts, etc. Peanuts and tobacco are raised in many sections, and for fodder and fertilizing the cow-pea and millo maize. Favored by its southern position, F. supplies vegetables to northern cities from one month to four months in advance of the local season. F. oranges are of excellent flavor, and their cultivation is extensive. The yield to a tree, usually 100, is sometimes as high as 10,000, and the annual val. of the crop exceeds $2,500,000. About 50 trees are planted to the acre, though 100 are sometimes seen, and profits are large, but after some years of delay. Among other fruits are the lime, shaddock, citron, pomegranate, plantain, tamarind, quince, cherry, strawberry, and blackberry. Fruits from China and Japan have been successfully introduced; also the English walnut and Italian chestnut. The ginger, clove, pepper, and pimento can be grown, and indigo is indigenous. Of several species of native grape, the Scuppernong is the most productive. The number of acres in farms, 1880, was 3,297,324; acres improved, 947,640; number farms, 23,438; av. size, 141 acres; total val. farms, $20,291,835; acres improved and cultivated, 1887, 686,016; corn produced, 1887, 4,816,000 bush.; oats, 761,000 bush.; potatoes, 1886, 134,000 bush.; total val. farm animals, Jan. 1, 1888, $10,461,890. Stock raising is extensively carried on in southern F.

Industries include the manufacture of naval stores, tar, turpentine, rosin, pitch,

cotton-seed-oil, cigars, lead-pencils, flour, salt by solar evaporation, wooden boxes, palmetto hats and braids, and orange wine, and the sawing of cypress, pine, oak and hickory lumber. Estab. 1880, 426; cap. $3,210,680; hands, 5504; val. prod. $5,546,448. Estab. 1885, 596. The sponge, oyster, and coral fisheries are productive, and in 1880 fisheries of all kinds employed 2480 persons, 124 vessels, and 1058 boats; the cap. invested was $406,117, and the val. prod. $643,227. On June 30, 1887, 14 vessels of 421.58 tons were engaged in the mackerel fisheries.

Commerce is mostly domestic, though Key West, Pensacola, and Fernandina have a considerable West India and Mexican trade. The ports of entry are Appalachicola, Fernandina, Key West, Pensacola, St. Augustine, St. John's, and St. Mark's. Value of exports for year ending June 30, 1887, $1,124,327; domestic exports, $2,980,860 ; foreign exports (from St. John's and Key West), $2690. American vessels in foreign trade entered, 76; ton. 44,195 ; cleared, 77; ton. 43,950; foreign vessels entered, 118; ton. 71.843; cleared, 131; ton. 91,966. There belonged to these ports 396 sailing vessels, 108 steam vessels, and 1 barge; total ton. 37,388.57.

Transportation.-The railroads having the longest mileage are those controlled by the Florida Railway and Navigation co. (including the Jacksonville and Chattahoochee, Fernandina and Cedar Keys, and Waldo and Withlacoochee), 533 m.; Florida Southern, 397.54; Jacksonville, Tampa and Key West, 240; Orange Belt, 148; Pensacola and Atlantic, 160.28; Savannah, Florida and Western, 138; South Florida, 192.11. Total mileage, 1886, 1506; cap. stock, $25,028,900; bonded debt, $20,666,400. Total cost, $41,595,061; gross earnings, $2,393,296; total mileage, main track, 1887, 1919.07. Some of the lakes are connected by navigable canals, and it is proposed to connect in like manner lake Okeechobee with the Gulf and the Atlantic.

Banks.-There were, in 1886, 9 national banks, with agg. cap. of $550,000 and individual deposits of $837,980.26; 1 state bank, with cap. of $50,000; depos. $81,360; 1 savings-bank, with cap. of $20,000.

Religion and Education.—The leading denominations are the Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Episcopal. There were, in 1880, 70,219 persons 10 years of age and over who could not read. The youth of school age (6 to 21). 1885-86, numbered 123,526; enrolled in pub. schools, 60,767; number pub, schools (1887), 2000; men teaching, 1013; women, 825; av. monthly salary of men and women, $53; expenditure for pub. schools (returns incomplete), $385,800. East F. seminary and Union acad., Gainesville, and West F. seminary and Lincoln acad., Tallahassee. have normal departments. F. state univ., incorp. 1883, is at Tallahassee; the state agricultural coll. at Lake City; Rollins coll. (Cong.) at Winter Park. The Presbyterians have a coll. at Winter Haven. Of 117 newspapers, etc., 1887, 7 were daily, 99 weekly, 7 monthly.

Government, etc.—The capital is Tallahassee. Suffrage is granted to every male person of 21 years who is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have declared his intention to become such, and has lived in F. one year and in the co. six months. Since 1880 there has been an educational qualification for voters. The governor holds office for four years, and has a salary of $3500; other state officers are appointed by the governor and senate. The legislature meets on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in Jan. There are 32 senators, chosen for 4 years, and 68 assemblymen, for 2 years: legislative sessions are biennial, and limited to 60 days; members have $360 a year and 10 cts. per mile for travel. There is a supreme court of a chief-justice and two associates, with salary of $3000 each; also circuit, criminal, and co. courts, and justices of the peace. Seven circuit court judges are appointed for 6 years, and each holds annually 2 court sessions; co. court judges hold for 4 years. All judges are appointed by the governor and senate. F. has 4 representatives in congress. The electoral votes have been cast as follows: 1848, Taylor and Fillmore, 3; 1852, Pierce and King; 1856, Buchanan and Breckenridge; 1860, Breckenridge and Lane: 1864, no vote; 1868, Grant and Colfax: 1872, Grant and Wilson; 1876, Hayes and Wheeler; 1880, Hancock and English; 1884, Cleveland and Hendricks; 1888, Cleveland and Thurman.

Finances.-Assessed val. real estate, including railroads, 1887, $66,908,163; of personal property, $19,357,499; state receipts, $535,871.65; balance in treasury, $255,894.63; expenditures, $681,120.26; debt,

Population.-In 1830, 34,730; 1840, 54,477; 1860, 140,424-61,745 slave; 1880, 269,493 -126,690 colored; foreign born, 9909; male, 136,444; female, 133,049; persons to sq.m. 4.97; number dwellings, 52,868; families, 54,691; 1888 (est.), 500,000. There are 45 cos.; for pop., 1880, see census tables, vol. XV. The largest cities, 1888, were Jacksonville, 35,444; Key West, 18,000; Pensacola, 13,000; St. Augustine, 10,000; Gainesville, 5000; Fernandina, 4500; Tallahassee, 3000. See Fairbanks's History of Florida; Mrs. Stowe's Palmetto Leures (Boston, 1873); Barbour's Florida (N. Y.,1884).

FLORIDA, GULF OF, the name given to the channel between Florida and the Bahamas, traversed by the Gulf stream (q.v.). From Florida reefs on the s., to Settlement point, the most northern of the Bahamas in the channel, is 200 m. long; greatest breadth at the southern extremity, 150 m.; at the northern extremity, 65 m.

FLORIDA BLANCA, Don JOSEFO MONINO, Count of, prime-minister under Charles III. of Spain, was b. in 1728, at Murcia, where his father was a notary. Having studied

at Salamanca, he gained soon after such distinction that he was appointed Spanish ambassador to Clement XIV. of Rome. In that office, he displayed great ability, especially in the abolition of the order of Jesuits and the election of Pius VI. Grimaldi, Spanish minister of foreign affairs, on being dismissed was asked by the king to nominate a successor, and accordingly proposed Monino. Charles followed his advice, created Monino count of Florida Blanca, and intrusted to him, besides, the department of matters of justice and mercy, as well as the superintendence of posts, highways, and public magazines. F. used this extensive authority in introducing post-coaches and good post-roads, in improving the capital, and attending to other important departments of general police, as likewise in actively promoting the arts and sciences. His effort to confirm the good understanding between Spain and Portugal by a double marriage, which would have secured the Portuguese throne to a Spanish prince, was unsuccessful. His military undertakings also, the attack upon Algiers in 1777, and the siege of Gibraltar in 1782, issued unfortunately. Before the king's death in Oct., 1788, F. presented a defense of his administration, with a request for leave to resign. The defense was accepted, but the request refused. However, under Charles IV., in 1792, F.'s enemies obtained his disgrace. Imprisoned at first in the citadel of Pampeluna, he was afterwards released, and banished to his estates. He appeared again at the meeting of the Cortes in 1808, but died Nov. 20th of the same year.

FLORIDEÆ. See CERAMIACEÆ.

FLORIDIA, a t. of Sicily, in the province of Syracuse, 7 m. w.n.w. from the city of Syracuse. It stands in a wide plain, amidst vineyards, olive-groves, and corn-fields. The houses are mostly low and small. Pop. 8,500.

FLORID STYLE, in music, an epithet applied by modern musicians to any movement, or passage, composed in a brilliant, fanciful, rich, and embellished style.

FLORIN was the name of a gold coin first struck in Florence (q.v.) in the 13th century. It was the size of a ducat, and had on one side a lily, and on the other the head of John the Baptist. Some derive the name from the city, and others from the flower. These coins were soon imitated all over Europe. It was out of them that the German gold guldens of the middle ages and the modern guldens arose. These last are still marked by the letters Fl. The gulden or florin is the unit of account in Austria, and has a value of about 28. Till 1875, a F. or gulden of 18. 8d. was the unit in the south German states. The Dutch F. or guilder is also worth 18. 8d. The English 28. piece is called florin.

FLORIN IANS, a Gnostic sect, of the 2d c., so called from a Roman priest, Florinus, who, with his fellow-presbyter, Blastus, introduced doctrines resembling those of Valentinus, into Rome in the pontificate of Eleutherius (176), and was excluded from communion by that pontiff. See GNOSTICISM, VALENTINIANS.

FLORISTS' FLOWERS are those kinds of flowers which have been cultivated with peculiar care, and of which, consequently, there exist numerous varieties, differing very much in appearance from each other and from the original flower. Such are tulips, hyacinths, roses, auriculas, carnations, anemones, ranunculuses, dahlias, etc. The special cultivation of particular flowers was first prosecuted to a remarkable degree in Europe by the Dutch in the beginning of the 17th c., and from the Netherlands a passion for it extended to other countries, particularly to England and Scotland, when the religious persecutions drove many refugees to the British shores; and to this day it prevails most of all where the branches of manufacture introduced by the refugees are carried on. In the little gardens of operatives in some of the manufacturing towns may be seen many of the finest tulips and carnations in Britain. It is still, however, in Holland, and particularly at Haarlem, that this branch of gardening is carried on to the greatest extent, and it is from that quarter that the market of the world is chiefly supplied with bulbs, seeds, etc. Between Alemsei and Leyden are more than twenty acres appropriated to hyacinths alone, which succeed best in a loose sandy soil. The cultivation of roses at Noordwyll, in South Holland, is carried on in considerable fields situated in the dunes, and affords support to many families. Berlin has of late years become the seat of a flower-trade, which partially rivals that of Holland. Some flowers, as dahlias and hollyhocks, are produced in greatest perfection by British cultivators. The Chinese have had their florists' flowers, camellias, hydrangeas, tree peonies, etc., from time immemorial.

In the years 1636 and 1637, an extraordinary flower-mania prevailed in Holland, chiefly with reference to tulips, in which men speculated as we have recently seen them do in railway shares. Bulbs were sold for enormous sums. For a single semper Augus tus (a tulip), 13,000 florins were once paid, and for three such together, 30,000 florins. The ownership of a bulb was often divided into shares. Men sold bulbs, which they did not possess, on condition of delivering them to the buyers within a stipulated time; and of some varieties, far more bulbs were sold than actually existed. But these extravagances soon ceased, although not till they had involved many persons in ruin.— It was not till about the year 1776 that the real flower-trade of Holland reached its greatest importance; from which time it has rather declined. New varieties of tulips and hyacinths are sometimes marked in the Haarlem catalogues at prices from 25 to 150 florins.

FLO'RUS, generally, but on insufficient evidence, called L. Annæus F., was a Roman historian who flourished in the reign of Trajan or Hadrian. Of his life we know absolutely nothing. He wrote an epitome of Roman history (Epitome de Gestis Romanorum), from the foundation of the city to the time of Augustus. This work, which is still extant, is carefully and intelligently composed, but is disfigured by an inflated and metaphorical style. Since the editio princeps—if, indeed, it be such-printed at the Sorbonne in 1471, F.'s epitome has been published times without number. The best modern editions are those of Jahn (Leip. 1852) and Halm (1854).

FLOSS SILK, that which is broken in the reeling. It is afterwards macerated in water, pressed, dried, and spun into yarn, which is useful in making the coarser kind of silk or mixed goods.

FLOTANT (Fr.), used in heraldry to express that the object is flying in the air, as a banner-flotant.

FLOTOW, FRIEDRICH VON, a noted operatic composer of Germany. Born at Tentendorf, in Mecklenburg, in 1812, he was at first intended for the diplomatic profession; but finding a musical career more congenial to him, he took lessons in composition from Reicha, in Paris. His earlier operas were refused by the managers of the Paris theaters; and his reputation was first established by his music to Le Naufrage de la Méduse, produced in 1839 at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, which was a great success. Afterwards, Flotow composed various light operas, including Le Forestier, L'Esclave de Camoëns, Alessandro Stradella, L'Ame en Peine, Martha, Rubezahl, and Zilda, which have attained considerable popularity in France and in Germany, and are characterized by easy and lively dramatic action, readiness of invention, pleasing melody, and graceful instrumentation. Martha has, since it was produced in London, become a great favorite in this country. F. was, in 1854, appointed intendant of the theater at Schwerin, and was elected a corresponding member of the French institute in 1864. He d. 1883.

*FLOTSAM. Wreck, in the legal acceptation of the word, is goods which, having been scattered by a shipwreck, have floated to land. From goods in the position of wreck are distinguished those known to the law of England by the uncouth expressions flotsam, jetsam, and ligan. The first is where the goods continue floating on the surface of the waves; the second is where, being cast into the sea, they sink and remain under water; the third is where they are sunk in the sea, but are tied to a cork, bladder, or buoy, in order that they may be recovered. If no owner appears to claim them, goods in these various positions go to the crown, so that by a royal grant to a man of wrecks, things flotsam, jetsam, or ligan will not pass. See JETSAM, and JETTISON, an important term in the law merchant, from which jetsam must be carefully distinguished. See Supp., page 882.

FLÖTZ (Ger. level), the name given by Werner to the secondary rocks of Lehmann, because, in the district in which he examined them, they were horizontal. He arranged the rocks which form the solid crust of the earth into four classes. 1. The primitive beds without organic remains, such as granite and gneiss; 2. The transition strata, which, from their more or less metamorphic condition, were related to the primitive rocks on the one side, and from their few contained organisms, to the F. on the other; 3. The F. containing all the sedimentary rocks, from the coal-measures up to and including the chalk; and 4. The newer strata, which he called the "overflowed land" or alluvium. When the followers of Werner found that the horizontal position of the F. was a local accident, they abandoned the term, and restored Lehmann's title of secondary.

FLOUNDER, Platessa, a genus of fishes, of the flat-fish family (pleuronectida), having one row of cutting teeth in each jaw, and generally pavement-like teeth on the pharynx; the dorsal and anal fins extending nearly the whole length of the body, the dorsal not coming further forward than the center of the upper eye; the tail-fin distinctly separated both from the dorsal and the anal. To this genus belong the plaice, flounder, dab, etc., of the British shores. The species generally known as the F. (P. Jesus) is very common, not only on the British shores, but on those of most parts of Europe. Its Swedish name is flundra. Its Scottish name is fleuk or fluke, a name which, with adclitions, is extended to many other kinds of flat-fish. The F. is often a foot or more in length. Its greatest breadth, without the fins, is about one third of the whole length, rat her less than that of the plaice. It is easily distinguished from the plaice by a row of small tubercles on each side of the lateral line. The color varies according to the ground from which the fish is taken. The F. is found chiefly in rather shallow water, with sandy or muddy bottom, and equally in the most perfectly salt water and in the brackish water of estuaries. It ascends still rivers into perfectly fresh water, and may be kept in fresh-water ponds. It lives long out of water, and is easily transferred to ponds.-The F., like the other fishes of this genus, generally swims on the left side, and has the eyes on the right side; but reversed specimens are of frequent occurrence.

FLOUR is a popular name given to the finer portions of meal or pulverized grain. Thus, flour, or wheat flour, is the fine part of ground wheat; pea-flour, of pease, etc. See BREAD.

FLOUR. See MILL.

FLOUR, ST., a small t. of France, in the department of Cantal, is finely situated on a steep basaltic plateau at an elevation of 3,000 ft., 34 m. e.n.e. of Aurillac. It is entirely buiit of lava and basalt. Its streets are narrow, and its houses in general have a miserable, dark, and dirty appearance. The principal building is the cathedral. A suburb lies at the foot of the rock, and communicates with the town by a winding road cut in the rock. F. has manufactures of hollow ironware, cloth, and table-linen. Pop. '76, 4,848.

FLOURENS, GUSTAVE, 1838-71; a French socialist. In 1863, he gave at the college of France a series of lectures on the history of mankind. His theories as to the manifold origin of the human race gave offense to the clergy, and he was precluded from delivering a second course. He then repaired to Brussels, where he published his lectures under the title of Histoire de l'Homme; he next visited Constantinople and Athens, took part in the Cretan insurrection of 1866, spent some time in Italy, where an article of his in the Popolo d'Italia caused his arrest and imprisonment; and finally, having returned to France, he nearly lost his life in a duel with Paul de Cassagnac, editor of the Pays. In Paris he devoted his pen to the cause of republicanism, and at length, having failed in an attempt to organize a revolution at Belleville (Feb. 7, 1870), found himself compelled to flee from France. Returning to Paris on the downfall of Napoleon, he soon placed himself at the head of a body of 500 tirailleurs. On account of his insurrectionary proceedings he was taken prisoner at Creteil, near Vincennes, by the provincial government, and confined at Mazas, Dec. 7, 1870, but was released by his men on the night of Jan. 21-2. Mar. 18, he joined the communists. As colonel of the 19th and 20th arrondissements, he took part in an attack on Versailles, and early in the morning of the 3d of April was killed in a hand-to-hand conflict at Rueil, near Malmaison.

FLOURENS, MARIE JEAN PIERRE, a celebrated French physiologist, who was b. in 1794, at Maureilhan, Hérault. After having obtained his degree of doctor of medicine at Montpellier, at the early age of 19, he proceeded to Paris, where he soon became acquainted with the Cuviers, Geoffroy St. Hilaire, and other eminent naturalists. For more than 40 years, F. was a voluminous writer on human and comparative anatomy and physiology, on natural history, and on various special departments of the history of the natural and physical sciences. Among his most important works we may mention his Recherches Experimentales sur les Propriétés et les Fonctions du Système Nerveux dans les Animaux Vertèbres (1824); with a supplementary volume, entitled Expériences sur le Système Nerveux (1825); Recherches sur le Développement des Os et des Dents (1842); Anatomie Générale de la Peau et des Membranes Muqueuses (1843)—a work tending to demonstrate the unity of the human race, by showing that there are no essential differences between the structure of the skin in the negro and the European-and his Théorie Expérimentale de la Formation des Os (1847), perhaps the most celebrated of his works. Among his smaller and popular works, are his Analyse Raisonnée des Travaux de Georges Cuvier (1841); Buffon, Histoire de ses Idées et de ses Travaux (1844); De l'Instinct et de l'Intelligence des Animaux (1841); Examen de la Phrénologie (1842); Histoire de la Découverte de la Circulation du Sang (1854); De la Longévité Humaine, et de la Quantité de Vie sur le Globe (1854); and his Eloges Historiques-a beautifully written series of scientific biographies.

As early as 1821, F. delivered a course of lectures on "The Physiological Theory of Sensations," and presented some of his first scientific contributions to the academy of sciences, into which body he was admitted as a member in 1828. About this date he was appointed assistant to Cuvier; and in 1832, he succeeded to the full duties of the professorship of natural history in the Jardin du Roi. In 1833, he succeeded Dulong as perpetual secretary of the academy of sciences-an office which he continued to discharge until his death; and in 1840, the French academy elected him a member. He was made a peer of France by Louis Philippe in 1846, and was appointed professor in the collégé de France in 1855. He died at Montgeron, near Paris, Dec. 6, 1867.

FLOUR MANUFACTURE, NEW PROCESS OF, is a way of making flour so as to retain that portion of the wheat which by the old methods is eliminated in the form of "middlings." This part of the grain being very nutritious, its retention enhances the value of the new flour and increases its quantity by over 8 per cent. The "new process" has been extensively introduced in the great flour-mills of this country. The grinding is done at a comparatively low rate of speed, and the result is obtained by boltingcloths of a peculiar sort. It is unfortunate that the "new process" has thus far been successfully applied only to spring wheat.

FLOUR, SELF-RAISING, is flour in which has been incorporated, by the process of sifting, a yeast-powder, compressed in proper chemical proportions, of bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid, or its compound with potassa, the bitartrate of potassa, or cream tartar. Flour thus prepared, after receiving the proper quantity of salt, and being mixed with a due proportion of water or milk, yields carbonic acid gas, under the influence of which the dough becomes porous, when it is ready to be put into the oven and baked. The yeast-powder is sold in bottles or in cans, in quantities suited to family As tartaric acid yields no nutritive property, the use of acid phosphate of lime in the form of powder has been introduced in its stead, upon the theory, suggested by prof. Horsford, that it restores to the flour the phosphates of the wheat which were removed with the bran. Liebig commends this process. The great convenience of this

use.

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