Sharp County record., 1880-09-02
The Eating OF Clay.

Among the extraordinary passions Tor
eatinq uncommon things, say Professor
Johnson Chemistry Common Life, is
TO be reckoned that which some tribes
of people exhibit for eating earth or
CLAW, For instance, in Western AFRICA,
the NEGROES of Guinea have been long
known to eat yellowiSh earth, there
called Ca0asac. the flavor or. taste of
which is very agreeable to them, and
which is said to cause them no lncon-
venience. Some addict themselves so
excessively to the use of it, that 1t be-
comes to them a kind of necessity to
their lives-as arsenic does to the Sy-
rian peasants, or opium to the Theriaki
and no punishment is sufficient to re-
strain them from the practice Of con-
suming it. When the Guinea negroes
used in former times to be carried as
slaves to the West India Islands, they
were observed to continue the custom
of eating clay; but the ca0uac OF the
American islands, or the substance
which the poor negroes attempted In
their new homes to substitute for the
African earth, was found to injure the
health of the slaves who ate it. The
practice was therefore long ago forbid
den and has now probably died out in
the West Indies.
In Martinique species of red earth
or yellowish tufa was still secretly sold
in the markets in 1751; but the use of it
has probably ceased in the French col
onies also. In Eastern Asia similar
practice of eating earth prevails in va
rious places. In the island ofJava, be-
tween Sourabaya and Samarang, Labil-
lardiere saw small square reddish cakes
of earth sold in the villages for the pur,
pose of being eaten. These were found
BY Ehrenberg to consist for the most
part of the remains Of microscopic ami
mails and plants, which had lived and
been deposited in fresh water. In Run
ieet Valley, in the Sikkim Himalaya, a
red clay occurs, which the natives chew
as a cure for the goiter. The chemical
nature of the substance has not been
examined. In Northern Europe, es-
pecially in the remote parts of Sweden,
kind of earth known by the name of
bread meal, is consumed in hundreds OF
cartloads,l it is said, every year. In
Finland similar earth is COM
monty mixed with the bread. In both
these cases the earth employed consists
for the most part of the empty shells of
minute infusOrial animalcules, in which
there cannot exist any ordinary nourish-
ment. In North Germany, also, on va
rious occasions, where famine or neceS-
sity urged it, similar substance, under
the name of mountain meal, has been
used as a means of staying hunger. In
South America, likewise, the eating of
clav prevails among the native Indians
on the banks of the OrinocO and on the
mountains of Bolivia and Peru. Hum
boldt states that the earth eaten by the
Otomac Indians, on the OrinOCO, is an
unctuouS, almost tasteless clay-true
potter's earth-having a yellOw-gray
color, in consequence of the presence OF
oxide of iron. This they select with
great care and they are even able to
distinguish the flavor of one kind of
earth from that of another. At the
periodical swelling of the river, which
lasts from two to three months, and
when all fishing is stopped, they devour
immense quantities Of earth. An In
dian will eat from one-quarter OF q
pound to one pound and II quarter OF
this food daily. A similar practice pre-
walls in the hill country of Bolivia and
Peru. DR.. Weddell saw species of
gray colored clay exposed for sale in
the markets of La Paz, on the Eastern
Cordlleras and which was called by
the native name of PpfSa. The Indians,
who are the only consumers of it, eat it
in large quantities with the bitter pc.
tato of the country They allow it to
steep for a certain time in water so as
to form kind of soup or cruel and sea-
son it with salt. At Chiquisaca, the
capital of the State, small pots made OF
an earth called Chac0 are exposed for
sale. These are eaten like chocolate.
The eating of certain varieties of earth
or clay may therefore be regarded as a
very extended practice among native
Inhabitants of tropical regions of the
globe. 1t serves, in some unknown
way, to stay or allay hunger, stilling,
probably, the pain or craving to which
want of food gives rise. 1t enables
the body to be sustained in comparative
strength with smaller supplies of ordi-
nary aliment than are usually necessary;
and it can be eaten in moderate quanti-
ties, even for a length of time, without
op1, cnnGihla OWL cOnSpuupncoS A fond
ness even is often acquired, so that at
last it comes to be regarded and eaten
as dainty. -Scicntjfc Amerjca@.
C;Vn fhn RnrS TnaIS