The Northwestern standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1885-1886, 1885-11-07
EDIBLE EARTH.
leo,INTsiEs IN WAGES CLAY ~ Used
Aa a fooE, ia. Fl

(scisnce and Saturs.s

@ T.
In many COO itria,, csrtatl csay' have
been used from tius i,nl3a!nonat as a fo5a
product
Ciays are essentially formed Of silica,
alarnina, ana wsstar Ia SyAJiabls prop ortlGas,
eolorel by metallic oxiies, and presenting
them selves in am9Fpaotts mas Wnseh are
SIN 9th an ! llncbn rus 10 tina 6lueh, ana upon
which the friction OF toe nal Leaves shin
ing trace "a upnn Dap. They a,ihsra to sac
tongue, an tform with water fine, piiabie
paste that msy ,e gisen I'll sorts OF forms,
Soma sampi IS Of 5 iihle earth consi.t as Ill
tue case of tripoi, of microscopic fossilizel
shells AMI il4nuinerable fresh water nfu-
soria.
How man came to have recourse TO such
food VS. do not know. but t4s same circnm-
stance, have lei to like resu6s ia Countries
taat are very remote from eaca other.
The practice of eating cousidera Die quanri-
ties % CLAW" says the learned naturalist
Cubic lrt sas a necessary supplement- 10 too
insufficient nnurishsaaut 10 almost unlyer-
sally diIfnsei among the savage peoples OF
Africa. America, an Asia. TIE Ottonaacs,
n people of S ,nbh America, regularly con-
sumo from poua to pound
ami a baIf Of cisy per day, whica
sati lie their hunger without injur;ng their
~.
The Aiuqzon, clay forms /, partot rne fare,
sya,. when other foo is aonndsnt. Edible
earth ~o1l the ii, II tats III f; iiyr, and
kin whicn has an agreeable cd ~ IS much
esteemed among the Peruvians. According
to ira velarS the negroes Of Jaloa ca have
re cour TO clay Only when there is a deartn
OF othef tool but they eat it Without re-
III snauce. On the contrary. the negroes OF
Guinea. tran porte 50 America, seek an
earth analogous to tat Wnlca they have
been accustomed to- AMI, not always aading
it, haverecourse to pSpa clay.
In the kin sloal of Sam the woman and
chi tren are clay sater5. In Java avs La.
bilarisre, they make q sortot cake out OF
a farru .inous clay which tie mea eat when
they wi h 10 become lean II i object
Of commerce in AMMAN a.ti Tonkin.
Ii i, a question here, then, nj vile
spread hab t tn III va lui in al. lat III IL,
from the "a ,at + t, the polar regions in
Guiana, Nav Caledonia, S bera AMI Terra
del Fuego--and one that hos heen preserved
among ONE of tle DESCENDANT OF tbs Por.
tlgueSe uayl .ator<. ;T.iesa are still w1",en
in P rtugaj," says Cub ,urt, "who eight
TO eat 9 RoucaroI clay from waich the
alCav Zzal ma lie, an he ait !:
Il do not think that so wide prsad
custom ma tH5 effect HicieIy
OF mon,ent,rily appsasi.,g huager, W tn
out re suit serv;csabie to nutrition.
1t is pr ,babI., on the contrary, that the in
stinct Of preservation has ma le known to
these miserable peoples specie of cays
that contain certain quantity OF organic
matter derived from vegetable letritui, and
that this material Contributes to III tain
thern in tho:e months Ut the year during
when mora efficient food fails them.
This rea9'nin, appears very plausible, an
If the m IRE moderate n.a Of eilnle earth
has bsen preserved during year OF abuni-
anre, 1t il doubtless so as not to lose the
tradition Of it, AMI in order t. rememoer a
res URGE Gnat may became valuable at a
gwen moment
TIE lniians Of tae Dntch colonies OF Java
and Sulnasra submit an eiib.s clay to a pa.
culjar preparation. They reduce it to q
sy5es sit .ss.tei, sai Tor sis N ,fia-
ter from it, an spread it out in thin Layers.
which they cut int small cakes and cook ia
E u saucepan over a caarcpll fra. Each OF
these Little cakes, which is roiisi up, looks
like pi9cs of dry balk TIE color Is
that Of Stats IN sometimes brown Ihs
clay is also som tim'i for NJ | into III lely
mo ieletl II cures ei m}n ana a'imats THIS
singular food hasa lisltiy aromatic flavor
that otfs3ts It's earthly TASTE.