Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1885-09-19
The LAST Great Discovery.

! many valuable discover eS as IN the
last half century. With the exception
! OF gunpOwder. vaccination, the circula-
ton of the blood, the steam engine and
few other trifes. most of the really
magnificent finds have been made
in the period named. Rubber over
/ shoes, patent chewing gum, thrashing
and sewing machines, the telegraph,
( the telephone, electric lightning, civil
/ service reform, mGTWumpsrr. and the
( purchase of. Aldermen in Job lots all
belong TO this period; and the latest
! achievements are by no means the last.
/ The discoveries OF Koch and PasUeur
md their application as IN Spain TO
I the prevention UtcAOIer3, mark a very
( distinct advance in the science Of pre-
( servug human lie. and open the way
+ TO further almost iilinuta3le flights IN
/ the same direction
! Perhaps the greatest discovery Of ali
/ is that which Professor Riley. the en-
/ tOmologist, has made Tins is not
+ the Riley Of whom tie poet has spoken
/ as the one ''they speak of So highly"
/ but he is likely IN the future to be
/ spoken of even more highly than his
/ prototype in the poem referred to.
/ Like that prototype he Is doing Quite
/ we'll. Al a single blow he has strick-
/ en- starvat on TO the ground and rele-
( gated1aniae to = Lack seat Ia the con-
/ gregatiOn OF the wo,id's terrOrs.
/ Hunger, hereafter. Will nave no excuse
save IN the case of the sh.Dwrec ked.
What the Professor mas done is real
/ ~ very simple, As all the great dis
/ cOveries OF history have been. He had
merely pointed the way 10 an mex
| haustible and almost omnipresent food
supply. ia his investigation of the
ortOOptera lepIdoptor3 and other
Optera. he has found that The vegeta-
ble-feeding insects which so often rob
the farmer of the fruits of his toll, can
be made to. restore their plumber in
thoroughly practical way by feeding
those whose 1oOd they have taken. lie
has demonstrated 10 his own satisfac-
ton and that of others that the grass
( hopper and the locust can be eaten as
we'll as eat. He haas taken the ..crIck-
ct on the hearth and transferred it to
the frying pan for the n0Urishment Of
millions who have never appreciated
it in its former aspect as an emblem
of domesticItY
Spite of the satire. not to say ridi-
cule, which the Professors discovery
seems fO iaFIc, 81 raalir IS Vaiuable
aud far-geachiuL. LIS theo-Y upon
which he bases hIs declaration that
certain Insects aCa eiI5Ji.} Is perfectly
sound. Ine roo of Inc. locust and tire
/ grasshCprer IS not Oatv purely vega-
table but vegetable OF lhe enc. cesJ
and teuderes5 In point OF cleanliness
they are far supcr,or ID pueh or the
food which ma. 5ind ea.s with % relish.
AS for any Naturally unpleasant sug-
gestiveness about the}u it is largely
prejudice and viii disappear Just
bn he nd ifth
sters, periWin<.es, shrimp, frogs and
horsehesh nave disappeared after a
fair trial.
With the addition OF the grlsshOpper
to our bill Of fare and the breaking
down OF the prejudice which has SO
long K. of it in the lis5 OF pests, the
way will be opened TO still grander
additions to the national ltrder. The
English SPARROW nI3y cease To be the
popular puzzle and become an article
of diet TO those VINO nave so long been
his victims; and with his introduction
to the soup pot and the gridIrOn the
prophetic eve can see q long vista of
hitherto unguessed article s of food
cOmiug up, not emily to the mere APP
peasemenJ Of hunrer bus 20 the graft
ticatiOu OF the ep.cure who signs con-
tinually for q new DdvOr. Even the
despised butter ne in that day viii be
acceptable to the hitherto hostile leg
isIator who viii demand only that it
shall be sold TOR what it is.
It's a pleasant picture. but like
many pleasant picture IL has ii shad-
Owy background Gne doubt VIII
arise whether an uojim ted increase OF.
the food supply is an uumiEed bless
inc The student of social science,
firm Ia his belief That the struggle for
food IS one of the most powerful els-
ments in the elevation of the race and
the restriction of its growth within
wholesome limits viii stand appalled,
before a future in which hunger Wu
be satisfied with no other exertiOn
than the mere catching of grasshOp-
pers. He viii point ~ tn gloomy fore
bOding to the low c0Di ton OF the
races who now Subs.sg W,tuOu5 taking
thought Tor the morrow. And there
IS ground for t.Ie 1ore1o ling. 1t
would be Il sad Blow 70 progress If the
necessity OF perspIr NJ ia the getting
o. bread were To Dc wholly done away
with. Perhaps 10 viii not be wholly
done away with. even when the grass
hopper. instead OF being q burden. be-
comes the component part OF a salad,
or makes Llsap pear--nee q an appe5iz-
ing fry La the wise economy Of ma
ture, as he becomes useful. he may
possibly become scarce such must
indeed. be the rasdi5 If the dOcIr ne of
The survival IF the httest has the
breadth and sOlGity accorded TO it by
the later philosophers - Dssr05t Ere
Press.