At Mr. Dilly's to-day [April 15, 1778] ... before dinner Dr. Johnson
seized upon Mr. Charles Sheridan's _Account of the late Revolution in
Sweden_, and seemed to read it ravenously, as if he devoured it, which
was to all appearance his method of studying. 'He knows how to read
better than any one (said Mrs. Knowles); he gets at the substance of a
book directly; he tears out the heart of it.' He kept it wrapt up in the
tablecloth in his lap during the time of dinner, from an avidity to have
one entertainment in readiness when he should have finished another;
resembling (if I may use so coarse a simile) a dog who holds a bone in
his paws in reserve, while he eats something else which has been thrown
to him.--J. BOSWELL. _Life of Johnson._