Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/64

64 and which it can extract only in the manner above stated, i.e., by mastication of the food, and the absorption of the prana by the nervous system by means of the nerves of the tongue, mouth and teeth.

Now, let us consider Nature's plan in combining two important offices in the act of masticating and insalivating. In the first place, nature intended every particle of food to be thoroughly masticated and insalivated before it was swallowed, and any neglect in this respect is sure to be followed by imperfect digestion. Thorough mastication is a natural habit of man which has been neglected owing to the demands of artificial habits of living which have grown up around our civilization. Mastication is necessary to break up the food that it may be more easily swallowed, and also that it may be mixed with the saliva and the digestive juices of the stomach and small intestines. It promotes the flow of saliva, which is a most necessary part of the process of digestion. Insalivation of food is part of the digestive process, and certain work is done by the saliva which can not be performed by the other digestive juices. Physiologists teach most positively that thorough mastication and proper insalivation of the food are prerequisites of normal digestion, and form a most necessary part of the process. Certain specialists have gone much further and have given to the process of mastication and insalivation much more importance than have the general run of physiologists. One particular authority, Mr. Horace Fletcher, an American writer, has written most forcibly upon this subject, and has given startling proofs of the importance of this function and process