The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1885-06-13
L0oUsTs FOR BREAKFAST.

PROFESSOR RILEY, or THE AGRICULTURAL
BUREAU, TRYING \ NOVEL DIET.
A gentleman who had an engagement
with Professor Riley called at his house
Monday morning and found the entomo-
logist alone in his dining room, reading |
the morning papers as he finished late
breakfast
Come right in here, said the professor.
| want an unpreiudiced opinion about a
little matter land to the servanD bring
in some hot ones
The visitor, despite the fact he had
breakfasted, was induced to seat himself
at the table just for experiment, and was
served with Il spoonful of dark brown
objects, like very small fried oysters. He
eyed them suspiciously moment, hay
ing discovered, beneath the crust of
bread crumbs, laminatcd back some
thing like that of very small shrimp.
What do you call it?
The cicada. They ought to have cook
ed in
What bugs?
Mo MOI not bugs, only the cicada-
miscalled the seventeen-year locusts
Don't be afraid of them. They are only
the quintescence of vegetable juices, and
everything in nature fedds upon them
ravenously. There upon the host took
one of the things bit it in two, munched
and swallowed it with an appearance of
relish. The guest shut his eyes and at
tempted to bolt a whole cicada The OBJ
ject crushed in his mouth and proved 10
be little else than pellcate shell its fla
vor was found so be far from disagreea-
BILE.
All its Juices were absorbed in the bat
ter, said the professor planatorially.
Neither the servant nor his visitor was
able to liken the flavor to anything with
which they were familiar, but were
agreed in all the opinion that, vulgar
preiudiced overcome, the cicada would
be esteemed rare tidbit-rare, certainly
scinCC it required seventeen years to rip
en-and that it might take rank with
frogs legs birds nests, shad roes and
white bait.
spent an hour last night, said the
host, gathering them and they We're very
beautiful when fresh. | took them just
as the pupa began to break They were
creamy white and plum p and looked
good enough TO eat raw. hut didn't ven
ture. think tn csc should have been
stewed instead of friCd-stcwed in milk
, | presume they they would be yearly
l as good rs grasshoppers.
e DO You eat Erasshoppers
Certainly | once ate nothing else
I for two DAYS and found them delicious
:. when properly cooked. This is only III
, experiment of course, but my eating o
grasshoppcrs hal a practiclc. object il
e view. The insects had c atcn ncarl!
! everything in a large region of country,
and moay families We're on the verge OF
5 starvation.
Having lighted a cigar the rntomolo
gists described his cN pcriencc in attemT
O ting to introduce grgsSho PIPER diet Il
/ the West He cooked the insects il
various ways and found them Away
IS palatable and nutritious. People invite
a to partakc always evinccd an aver sion 4
first hut prejuiiccs having been ovel
5 come the dish became 4 fayoritc wit
If those who ossayad il.
Both the ucdrpoda migratoria, h { sal,
Z and the acridum percErinum have bee
Y esteemed as food by some nations III Il
:, past ages, rs far bach at least as the Nine
IL van era. Indeed, some tribes have bee
r. Classed Us acridopnigi. from the almo
exclusive preference they gave this die
to -pnoEE>r's ILLUSTRATED MoNrm
n MAGAZINE for July is unusually brgl
g., and entertaining. II contains some e.
cccdingly readable articles, among whic