An interesting word from this week is “digestion.” A common word to modern ears, digestion is popularly understood to be the breaking down of food in the stomach and intestines for processing by the body, for the purpose of nutrition. It was known this way in Johnson’s day, too, and so reflected in his dictionary. Interestingly, “concoct” was used in a nearly identical way in the period. This closely reflected its Latin base: concŏquo, meaning, according to Cassell’s, “to boil or cook thoroughly or together.” Though today, one does not normally hear a person say he is concocting his dinner to indicate digestion, the idea of reducing matter in the stomach as digestion is certainly apt and rather illustrative.
Before continuing with the usages of “digestion,” an important point to emphasize is Johnson’s reliance on and closeness to Latin. By far, the majority of the words that I have been proofing lately have a Latin etymological base (especially after leaving words beginning with the Greek preposition δια, such as diameter). The literary quotes Johnson uses strongly suggest how closely tied to Latin the writers of old were. This is not unexpected when one realizes how commonly Latin was used in the English-speaking world, and not just by ecclesiastics, from medieval times through the eighteenth and into the nineteenth centuries. It is only in more modern times that Latin has been relegated to technical scientific terminology and esoteric studies in the dusty halls of academe.
Continuing with “digestion,” the next usage Johnson gives is: “The preparation of matter by chemical heat.” Perhaps humorous to contemporary ears is Johnson’s use of a quote here from Bacon’s Natural History that invokes alchemy as an example of digestion, “We conceive, indeed, that a perfect good concoction, or digestion, or maturation of some metals, will produce gold.” Alchemy, now known to be a futile pursuit, was considered sound scientific practice in ages past – even a scientific mind as eminent as Newton’s strenuously sought a way to produce gold by chemical means. Again, it is uncommon to hear “digestion” used to mean preparation by chemical heat, thus it is labelled “Obsolete” by the OED.
The next use of “digestion” is, “Reduction to a plan; the act of methodizing; the maturation of a scheme.” The idea here is taking divergent but interconnected parts and synthesizing them into a streamlined whole. Has the reader ever wondered why a very popular multivolume set of condensed books are called Reader’s Digest? Reducing a book’s contents to its most salient points can be termed “digestion.” Historically important, the ancient body of Roman jurisprudence codified into book-form was titled the Digest.
The last use of “digestion” in Johnson’s Dictionary is of a “wound or sore” producing “matter.” “Matter” regards suppuration or the formation of pus. This process was considered a healthy maturing of a wound toward healing. It is now known that suppuration is caused by infection, which is best avoided from the beginning and is a detriment rather than a help. Wounds made and kept clean heal the quickest and are least likely to form potentially lethal complications. Medical knowledge and understanding, however, was not this advanced in Johnson’s day. Nor would it be for nearly two hundred years. Such ignorance has had profound historical consequences.
President Washington’s life was almost certainly shortened
by the “blood-letting” thought so necessary in 1799. Though eighty-two years had
elapsed since Washington’s death, medical practices were still woefully in the
dark; causing another presidential death. President James A. Garfield was shot
by an assassin on July 2, 1881. Garfield suffered for weeks because his doctors
could not find or remove the bullet lodged in his body – x-ray was unknown in
his day. Not only were the doctors unable to remove the bullet, but they also
lacked a proper knowledge of germs and the causes of infection. All of these
shortcomings resulted in the President’s untimely death on September 19, 1881.
Until next time.
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