Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1875-08-25
JOcuSts as Food for Man.

Prof. Charles V. Riley, State Entomolo-
oist of Missouri, has been the target OF
many newspaper shots since he announced
his belief in the excellence of lOcusts as an
article of diet. boiled roasted, ,fricasSeed and
fried. The present paper is a record OF his
actual experiences; but it began with
statement of the custom of other people In
respect to the "grasshoppcr pest" Kirby
and Spence in their introduction to Ento-
molory have treated the subject OF edible
insects. and Mr.. w. X. Gerard has this
wear brought together most of the facts IN
= paper read at PoughkeepSie before the
Natural History Society of that place. EX-
cantinr locusts, most insects used for hu-
man food have been procurable only IN
small u,lantitieS, and rs a matter of curlos-
itv or tpicurcan taste. Locu>ts have how
ever. been an article of substantial food tor
man from immemorial antiquity. Among
the Ninevah sculptures in the British Mus
c1u, are representations of men carrying
different kinds of meat to 4 festival; ; some OF
the men bring sticks to which locustS are
tied. These insects are accounted among
"clean meats in Leviticus. and are else
where in the Bible spoken OF as TODD lor
man. IIerodotuS mentions tribe OF
EthiopianS that fed on locusts (which came
from southern and unknown districts.
| LIVINGSTONE states that this Is still the case
with many African tribes. In Morocco
where locusts do damage every year, they
ear used :or food whenever their increase
seriously diminishc> the crops. The insect,
are roasted and offered for sale in the mar
ket ut TanrierS, and in other cities. Ger
tain dark markings on the under part o
the ,horaX of the female insects are re
rtrdeu hv the Jews of Morocco rs Hebrew
characters, and are said to indicate tina
the female is "clean,' while the male l.
unclean hence the females are prlnclpall,
) offered for sale. Tho locust is also use.
for food in Southern Russia. Many Ameri
can tribes of Indians, rs is we'll known
make use of locusts for food.
As to the method of cooking. the Roman
are said to have roasted them to a brigh
golden yellow. Locu>ts OF the Ola "ori
are mostly l,rre and can bc easily prepare
e bv roasting. boiling. brolin-. frying, O
. siewing. In Russia they are salted an
: smoked: in Morocco they are salted b
. the Hebrews. but are ordinarily boiled an
n then fried. The Hebrew population us
: the salted locusts rs part of the compoS
/ ,ion of a dish which contains almo
e everything eatable. is rnt into the owe
>. on Friday night and taken out on the Je"
: i>h Sabbath. SO that Il hot meal Is provide
e without committing the sin of lighting
l. fire on the latter day. \ variety OF oth'
!. methods of cooking were instanced /
;, Prof Riley. lie Ind long desired to te
e the value of some of these methods. m
e took the opportunity afforded by the rrcel
IF r,i,ls Of locustS ut the West. lie foul
l. the flavor of the cooked ln>ect-prertr'
II in almost any of the methods described
II cnite agreeable. Fried or roasted IN not
le mo but their own oil they had pleasar
t. nutty flavor: ipcculiar but agreeable. l
Sc boiled them and stcwcd them and toul
y them admirable. At hotel he endeavor'
1t in vain to obtain assistance in the kltche
ed The cook and servants retired IN dlSSus
e. The naturalsts were obliged to do the
m cookinr. but the savOry meSscs they co
IN cocted converted the kitchen, and coo
le and ouests alike agreed upon the eXcellen
: of the soups, fricaSSccs. and fritters wnI
MT were materially composed OF locusts.
" experiment of John the Baptlsts food
~ Iocus,s and wild honry-was great 81
ne cess Prof Riley described Il variety
Iii instances in which the cooked locusts we
to eaten bv his friends, with scarcely d
s, serting opinion in their favor
IN The discussion on this paper was
G. short bv Il remark of the presiding ofil'
Dr Dawson) that there could be ut
1ouht as to the facts, since the proof OF |
nndlino is in the eating. If Pr"f HI
could induce people to regard locustS *
le tootbsomc. cpicurcan article of food, the
ne would never be any more grasshopl
n ray;,oes: there is rather a danger that
insects themselves would be eXtermlnt''