3.34 Food. 



1 think it important, however, to warn the readier in this place, 

 a^^ainst any improper interpretation of the terms in which Mr. 

 Curwen has delivered his opinion respecting the superior advantage 

 and efficacy of warm food, lest any one should be inclined to imagine, 

 that the warmth and moisture of such food were the circumstances 

 upon which this superiority depended. For though it cannot be 

 denied that warmth and moisture assist materially in the process of 

 digestion, yet are they but secondary considerations, compared with 

 the still more important one, of the food being exposed to the cul- 

 inary process, for a length of time, sufficient to cook it completely. 



This is, in fact, the grand secret, the hinge upon which every 

 thing turns, in the late improvements, in regard to animal dietetics, 

 notwithstanding the rash assertions, to the contrary, of the author of 

 the philosophical treatise on Horses. And it is for this reason, that 

 Sir Walter Raleigh's invaluable blessing, the Potatoe, is, compara- 

 tively speaking, of small value as food for Horses, or other animals, 

 unless it be cooked. This fact was proved most decisively and satis- 

 factorily, by my friend the Bishop of Kildare, in the winter of 

 17^8, (the period of scarcity,) who fed his Waggon Horses upon 

 steamed potatoes, at his living in Lincolnshire, and notwithstanding 

 the deplorable state of the fen roads, and the severe labour they under- 

 went; they were in the highest condition possible from the effects of 

 this food. But, some accident unfortunately happening to bis 

 steaming apparatus, his Lordship was reduced to the necessity of 

 giving the potatoes raw to bis Horses, and the consequence of this 

 was, that they immediately fell away to a state, that is hardly 

 credible. On this subject, his Lordship has written to me to the 

 following effect. 



