Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1885-09-30
EDIBLE EARTH.
COUNTRIES IN WHICH CLAY IS USED
AS A FOOD.
Clay Eating Almost Universally Practiccd
Among the savagcs OF Africa. America
+. and Asia-A Plausible Reason
for the Custom.
[scIencte and Nature.1

[Science and Nature.1
In many countries, certain clays have
been used from time immsmorial as food
product te{
Clays are essentially formed Of silica,
alumina, and water in varlabls proportions
colored by metallic oxides, and presenting
themselves in nmorphous masses which arc
SIN 10Th AMI unctuous TO the touch, and upon
which the friction of toe nail leaves shin
ing trace as upon soap. They adhere to the
tongue, and form with water IL fine, pliable
paste that may be given all sorts Of forms
Some samples OF eiiLie earth consist. as In
the case Of tripoli OF microscopic fcsslizsd
shells and innumernble fresh water infu-
sorin.
How man came to have recourse to such
food we do not know, but the same circum-
STANCES have led to like results in countries
that arc very remote from each other.
"The practices of eating considerable quanti-
ties OF CLAW" says the learned naturalist
Guibourt, "as necessary supplement to too
insufficient nourishment Is almost univer-
sally diffused among the savage peoples OF
Africa, America, and Asia" The Ottomacs
people of South America, regularly con-
sumo from q pound to pound
and q half of clay per day, which
sati, fie, their hunger without injuring their
health. Among the Indians Of the banks OF
the Amazon, clay forms a part OF tho fare,
even whom other fool IL abundant Edible
earth 1, sold in the markets of Bolivia, and
kinl which has an agreeable odor Is much
esteemed among the Peruvians. According
to travellers the negroes Of Jamaica have
recourse to clay only when there is a dearth
of othor food. but they eat 1t without re-
puynance On the contrary, the negroes OF
Guinea, transported to America, seek an
earth analogous to that which they have
been accustomed to, and, not always finding
It, haze recourse to Pipe clay.
In the Kingdom Of Siam the woman and
children are clay eaters In Java, says La
billardiere, thsy make sort OF cake out Of
q ferruginous clay which the men eat when
they wish to become lean. It is an object
OF commerce In AMMAN and Tonkin.
II is question here, then, Of q wide
spread habit, that we find in all latitudes,
from the equator to the polar regions lin
Guiana, New Caledonia, Siberia and Terra
del Fuego-and one that has been preserved
among some Of the descendants OF the Por-
tuguese naviyatorS "There are still women
In Portugal" says Guibourt "who eight
to eat the Boucaros clay from which the
alcavozzas ara made" and he adds;
~ do not think that SO widespread
custom has the effect merely
Of momentarily appeasing hunger, with
out a result serviceable to nutrition.
1t is probabls. on the contrary, that the in.
stinct OF preservation has made known to
these miserable peoples species Of clays
that contain certain quantity Of organic
matter derived from vegetable detritus, and
that this material contributes to sustain
them in those months Of the year during
which a more efficient food fails them"
This reasoning appears very plausible, and
IL the more moderate use OF edible earth
has been preserved during years OF abunds
ance, it Is doubtless so as not to lose the
tradition OF 1t. AMI In order to remember q
resource that may become valuable at q
given moment
The indians Of the Dutch colonies Of Java
and Sumatra submit an edible clay to pc
culiar preparation. They reduce 1t to 9
paste with water, separate oil foreign mat
ter from it. AMI spread it out In thin layers,
which they cut into small cakes and cook In
saucepan over q charcoal fire. Each OF
these little cakes, which is rolled up, look
like piscs OF dry bark. The color 1.
that Of slats AMI somstimes brown. The
clay Is also somstlmes formed into rudely
modelled figures Of mon and animals. Thii
singular food has slightly aromatic flavor
that offs3ts its earthly taste.