288 Food, 



(though assailed most unmercifully at his outset, by the shafts of pre- 

 judice and ignorance, qualify him, in an especial , manner, for the 

 performance of this important and difficult task, and entitle him, at 

 the same time, to the warmest thanks of every enlightened patriot. 

 Dr. Richardson appears, indeed, to have marked with eagle-eye, Ihe 

 aberrations of science, and, with infinite penetration, to have disco- 

 vered the reason why some of her most zealous votaries, and most 

 devoted admirers, have contributed so little, to the general stock of 

 public good; in consequenc of unprofitable attention to minutiae; 

 and, thus, whilst immersed in the depths of her profoundest reseaches, 

 overlooking (almost entirely) the grand object of practical 

 utility. 'r lf?T)bci^ i m-* 



On the other hand, it has not escaped this Gentleman's keen 

 observation, that the merely-practical man who is determined to lis- 

 ten to no innovations, to resist all change, to brand, indiscrimi- 

 nately, with the nickname of new-light, all projected improvements, 

 resolving to plod on in the same beaten track which his father 

 followed, and that for no other reason, but because his father pursued 

 that path before him, deserves to be considered the enemy of hiniself, 

 his family and his country. .id tuh 



•;;}< After this exordium, which I offer as a sort of apology, for making 

 this chapter the vehicle of more philosophical reasoning than 

 I have ventured to iutroduce in aivy of the preceding sections, I pro- 

 ceed to sketch, what I would call, the outlines of' the history of 

 digestion. 



It is veny well known, that in man and most other animals, the food 

 is reduced into a kind of pulp in the mouth, through the grinding 

 powers of the teeth, assisted l)y the moisture of the saliva ; though 



