Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1885-06-11
CHEWING BUGS FOR Fun.

A gentleman who had an en-
gage ment with Professor Riley
called at his house in Washington
and found the entomologist alone
in his dining-r room, reading the
morning papers, as he finished q
late breakfast. -. ma, nan, ,,.'i,' ~. =.
i"Cnme right in here,"' said the
Proft issor, IT want an unprejndics
ed opinion about a little matter
land to the servant), bring in some
hot o ies.r f.., ..a..ba ~
TIL, visitor, despite the fact that
he hs d breakfasted, was induced
to sest himself at the table, lust
for the experiment. and was serv.
ed with q spoonful 6f dark blown
objec IS, like very small fried oys.
terS' . he eyed them suspiciously
q moment? having discovered be-.
| meath the ernst of bread crumbs a
lamin ated back something like that
Of q very small shrimp. "a uIJ
| "W hat do you call itf' lhtlQl
3.Tte cicada. They ought to have
been looked in, tu4 lr.
! laoYW hat! Bugsr Ha .,,a
Nc, no! Not bugs, only the
eicad; -miscalled the seventeen y
year,old locust" m.n,olno rtn
III, MT be afraid of them. They
are OF ly the qpintessence of vege>
table juices, and everything in
natur,, feeds upon them ravenous4
ly," Ie..,. ..ID,5 ~ gr,a t,n'l tsl'
! Thereupon the host took one of
the tb ings, bit it in two, munched
and swallowed it with an appears
ance tf relish. The guest shut his
eyes, ind attempted to bolt a whole
cicads. The object crushed in his
mouth, and proved to be little else
than delicate shell, but its flavor
was ft und to be far from Disagree
able. ,. -i"i''
"Al its juices were absorbed in
the ba ttery,' said the professor, ex.
plana;orily. .. ar~., '1a
Neither the servant nor his Wis.
itor wis able to liken the flavor to
anyth ng with which they we're
familiar; but they we're agreed in
opinio that, vulgar prejudice
overcome, the cicada would be es-
teemed a rare It'd bit--rare, Ger
tainly, since it required seventeen
years to ripen-and that it might
take rink with frogs legs, birds
nests, shad-roes and white-bait! 20,
| 81 Jpent an hour last night
said the host, ''gathering them
and they are very beautiful when
fresh. | took them just as the
pupa tegan to break. They were
cream white and plump, and
looked good enough to, eat raw
but d dn't venture. l think these
should have been stewed instead
Of fritd-stewed in milk, prer
lsume they would be nearly as good
as graishoppers.' 1.o hnl
DO you eat grasshOppersr 40,
Certainly. I once ate nothing
else for two days, and | found them
dellcio Is when properly cooked
This IL only an experiment, %
course but my eating Of grassh0p
pers had practical object In view
The in 3ects had eaten nearly ey'
erythil G in a large region Of coun
try, aid many families were on
the verge Of starvation" .,,y ,sI
Having lighted cigar che en-,
tomolo .ist described his expert
ence in attempting to introduce
grasshopper diet in the West. Ell
cooked the insects in various ways
and fol nd them always palatabl'
and nutritious. G>al N
People invited to partake alway
evincet aversion OF first, but, pre-
judices having been overcome, thy
dish be came a favorite with thos
who essayed it. .t,aay ..gI >.
4 "Both the edipoda migratina,'
he said, "and the acridum perig
nlnum have been esteemed as foo'
/, by som1 nations in all past ages, a
g far back at least as the Nineva
! Era. Indeed, some tribes hay
been classed as acridophigi frof
the al most exclusive preference
they give this diet"