Tom, I think Fletcher (of 'fletcherizing,' a fad of yore) started the
idea of thoroughly chewing food till the last bit of taste was gone,
then swallowing it. He demonstrated great strength and endurance in
tests.
   His idea was, interestingly, distorted into compulsively chewing
each morsel exactly 32 times, once for each tooth, which seems quite
the opposite of what he advocated.