Water, when simple, is insipid, inodorous, colorless, and smooth; it is found, when _not cold_, to be a great resolver of spasms, and lubricator of the fibres; this power it probably owes to its smoothness.

For as fluidity depends, according to the most general opinion, on the roundness, smoothness, and weak cohesion of the component parts of any body, and as water acts merely as a simple fluid, it follows that the cause of its fluidity is likewise the cause of its relaxing quality, namely, the smoothness and slippery texture of its parts.

The other fluid vehicle of tastes is _oil_.

This too, when simple, is insipid, inodorous, colorless, and smooth to the touch and taste.

It is smoother than water, and in many cases yet more relaxing.
Oil is in some degree pleasant to the eye, the touch, and the taste, insipid as it is.