# Leaves from my Chinese Scrapbook/Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX.
HIPPOPHAGY AMONG THE TARTARS.
The use of animal food among the Chinese dates from the remotest times, and is said to have preceded the knowledge and use of fire. Before the advent of the mythical Emperor Fu Hsi the people ate raw flesh and drank blood warm from their flocks and herds; and when he came he instructed them in the art of cookery, from which fact he derives his other title of The Butcher. From this time downwards the Chinese have been great meat-eaters, consuming, in addition to the various kinds used for food in civilised communities, the flesh of dogs, rats, and asses. These last, however, are only eaten by the poor. The solitary instance, we believe, of a universal food being rejected by a special class of persons is that of beef, which no rigid Confucianist will touch. An ox is euphemistically called the Ta Wu, or Great Beast, which, from its being offered in sacrifice to Heaven by the Emperor, acquires a sacred character; besides which, it renders services to agriculture too noble to permit of its being degraded into an article of food. We may add, however, that no prohibition of the kind is to be found in the Confucian books; it rests upon tradition solely.
It is for much the same reason, perhaps, that horseflesh is hardly ever eaten in China. The only persons ​who are accused of doing so are the very poorest of the poor in Peking itself; and it is not likely that they are able to procure any carcasses but those of worn-out animals who have died a natural death. Among the Tartars, however, horse-flesh is not only a favourite but a staple dish; so much so, indeed, that they are said to have acquired, by long practice, a wonderful power of discriminating, while the animals are yet alive, those whose flesh will prove toothsome and nutritious, and those whom it would be dangerous and bad to eat. They have a way of preparing horse-flesh by first boiling, and then drying it in the cold breezes of the plain; after which they grind it into a sort of powder or meal, which may be preserved for almost any length of time. The Tartar nomad is thus always provided with a nutritious article of food, which can be put into an insignificant compass; since a very small quantity dissolved in boiling water furnishes him with a comfortable bowl of soup, in precisely the same way as a teaspoonful of Liebig's Extract will make a basin of beef-tea. Indeed, there is a very curious resemblance between the preserved horse-flesh powder of the Tartars and the meat-paste recently invented by M. Moride, and introduced by him to the French Academy under the name of "Nutricine." It is prepared by working raw meat into a pulp, and then mixing it with bread or farinaceous substances, which absorb the natural moisture of the meat and so form a paste. This paste is then dried, and the material ground into a powder which is said to last an indefinite time, and may be used in much the same way as its analogue in Tartary. Of course it is necessary that the Tartar horse-flesh should be kept as dry as possible, and also that ​it be used almost exclusively in cold climates. These two conditions being complied with, it forms the principal provision of armies when engaged on distant campaigns, or in forced marches through hostile or unproductive territories. It is then of inestimable value, for it renders the soldier entirely independent of harvests, and enables him to maintain his corporeal vigour upon the smallest possible cubic measurement of food. The Tartar's meat, however, is the Chinaman's poison. All books upon the subject condemn the use of horseflesh as unhealthy to the last degree, especially that portion of the back which is covered by the saddle. The liver is said to be so impure as to cause death in all who eat it; while the blood and the sweat are so impregnated with venom as to turn all wounds with which they may come in contact into bad gangrenes. But though not to be used as food, the tissues of a horse enter freely into the Chinese pharmacopoeia. Horse-broth is an excellent remedy for pleurisy and all sorts of malignant fevers, on account of its cooling properties; while well-cooked horse-nerves act as a general tonic to the system, and impart no small amount of strength to a man who has become weak through illness. Young mothers whose children are cutting their teeth will be glad to hear that by burning the tooth of a horse, grinding it to ashes, mixing it with the infant's saliva, and then rubbing it on the gums, the pain may be greatly moderated and the process of teething materially assisted. The milk of a white mare is useful in cases of phthisis and pulmonary complaints in general; while the hoof, if burnt to ashes, is an excellent preservative against pestilence. Many other parts and products of the animal are of great value in other cases ​of emergency; but the prophylactics found in Chinese medical works are, as may be imagined, not always suitable for transcription. In the majority of cases the remedy must be far worse than the disease, as any one may discover for himself by examining the ordinary Customs returns. Our readers may remember a story told of the late Earl of Derby which has no slight bearing upon this point. It appears that at one time his lordship was suffering from one of his severe attacks of gout. An obscure admirer—whose name is of importance chiefly to himself—sent the illustrious sufferer a case of sherry of some very particular brand, which, he said, was of priceless value as an antidote to that complaint. After a few days, however, the wine came back upon his hands, with a polite letter from Lord Derby thanking him most sincerely for his kind intentions, but saying that he had tasted the sherry, and very much preferred the gout.