The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1875-08-07

The Massachusetts P3oughmat has had u
series of articles on the "Habits of Insects"
from one OF which we take the following, in
regard to their uses:
"The Hottentots always rejoice in the ar
rival of swarm Of locustS, eat them in great
numbers and make soup of their eggs. They
are brought in wagon loads to Fee in Africa,
and are preserved by sailing, or smoking.
The MoOrs prefer them to pigeons, and per-
son may eat two or three hundred without
feeling any i'll effects. They are usually
boiled in water half an hour, after throwing
away the head, legs and wings, and then fried
with a little vinegar. Their use as food is
alluded to in Scripture, where the food Of
John the Baptist is said to have been locusts
and wild honey. The ancient Greeks con-
sidercd grasshoppers as great luxury, and
the Chinese, who are unwilling to waste any
thing, after unwindlng the silk from the co.
coonS of the silk worm, send the insect to the
table. The Hottentots again parch the white
ants and eat them as we do corn. Mr.. Smeath-
man tells us that they taste like cream and
sugar, or almond cakes. There are many
other instances of insects which serve for food
to different nations, though with the excep-
ton of q few individuals, as Lalande, the
great astronomer, who was fond of spiders,
their use is generally discarded by those
whom we consider the most refined Wesay
generally, tor one species, the cheese mite is
often considered luxury even among these.
Formerly "A great variety of insect were
used IN medicine, and were considered infal-
lible cures for many diseases-powder ofsilk-
worm was considered excellent for convul-
sions, ear-wigs to strengthen the nerves, fly
water for afiiicuons of the eyes, ticks for St.
Anthony's fire. lady-birds for the collie and
measles, beetles tor hydrophObia, ants for
deafness and weeylls for the toothache.
These notions are now left to the uneducated,
where some of them are still in force; aud a
very disgusting insect, vulgarly known by
the name of the sOw-bug, was, within the
memory of many, and perhaps still is, occa-
sionally prescribed. Some ofthem, however,
are still used, or least their productions.
Spiders-webs have been lately recommended
for the ague and we could spare almost any
thing better from our materia medica, than
the various species of bisterng flies They
are quite important as supplying various mr.
tcles Of domestic economy, or ornament.
Some in some countries yield soap, and 9th
ers oil. In China the ladies embroider their
dresses with the wing caps of several brilliant
beetles, and in India firetlies enclosed In gauze
are used as ornaments for the head.
But these are small matters, and there are
others much more important; one of these Is
the gall, or nut gall as it is commonly called,
used for the manufacture of ink and black
dye, and for which no good substitute is known.
These gals are the habitatlon of species of
insect, which lives upon the oak OF Turkey
in Asia, from the ports of which it Is expor-
ted in great numbers. Another dyeing arti-
Gle, cochineal, is an insect of South America.
The quantity of these annually exported from
South America is said to be worth there up
wards OF 100000 pounds sterling, or over two
million of dollars, and the Directors of the
English East India company offered some
years since reward of $4,000 to any one who
should introduce the most valuable species
into their settlements. Another important
article in the arts, which is the manufacture
OF insects, is lac, which is used in the max
ing OF sealing wax, spirit varnishes and japan
ware, the cementing OF cracked china and in
dyelng in which art ii is found TO be a good
substitute for cochineal.
There IS still another article for which we.
are indebted to insects, which is yet more
valuable; il is silk. This is the staple article
in many large provinces OF the world, gives
employment 10 tens of thousands of the hu-
man race IN its first production and transpor-
tatien aud furnishes subsistence to hundreds
OF thousands more in its final manufacture,
thus becoming one of the most important in
struments in the circulation of national
wealth. The method of procuring this valu-
able article was known TO the Chinese and
Indians some thousand years ago, but was
never introduced into Europe till about $50
years after the Christian era, when the eggs
OF the silkworm were brought by some monks
from India TO C0nstantinople, where they
speedily multiplied, and were thence intro
duccd into Italy and afterwards into France i
The common use of 1t is comparatively late
in Great Britain. Queen Elizabeth was
among the first who wore silk stockings in |
England, and James her successor, when
king of Scotland, was Obliged to borrow a
pair OF the eail of Mar, to appear in before
the English ambassador; exclaiming, when
the Earl hesitated "Ye would not, sure, have
your king appear as scrub before strangers"
When we consider the abundance sni com.