The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1886-04-29
QUEER APPETITES.

The old saying that what Is one mans
meat Is another mans poison is realized
in the opposite tastes of people.
The Englishman will not eat a squir-
rel, but will gloat over meal of barna-
cles and periwinkles, the latter a species
of sea-snail that adheres to the rocks.
The Hollander relishes q feast of de-
cayed shark, Yet looks with horror on
bread and butter. The japanese have
prejudice against milk and beef, but
viii enjoy stewed or roasted rat The
Turks shudder at the thought of eating
oysters.
The Digger Indians of the Pacific
slope rejoiced in the great locust swarms
| of 1875 as gracious dispensation of the
Great Spirit, and laid in a store of dried
locust powder sufficient to last them for
several years.
The French will eat frogs, snails and
the diseased liyers of geese, but draw
the line at alligators-
Buckland declares the taste of boa
constructor good. and much like veal
Sir Robert Schomberg found monkey
very palatable. though he says that be-
fore being carved it looked disagreeably
like roast child.
Quass, the fermented cabbage water.
of the Russians, is their popular tipple-
1t is described as resembling a mixture
of stale fish and soapsuds in taste, yet,
next to beer, it has more votaries than
any other fermented beverage A tai
low candle washed down with quass
forms meal that it would be hard to
be thankful for.
In Canton and other Chinese cities
rats are sold at the rate of 81 dozen,
and the hind quarters of dogs are hung
up in the butchers shops alongside Of
mutton and lamb, but command high
er price. The edible birds nests of the
Chinese are worth twice their weight in
silver, the finest variety selling for as
much as $50 pound.
The negroes of the West Indies eat
baked snakes and palm worms fried in
their own fat, but they can not be in
duced to eat stewed rabbits
In Mexico parrots are eaten, but they
are rather tough.
The Guachos of the Badda Oriental
are in the habit of hunting skunks for
the sake of their flesh.
In Kaskaskia, a town on the banks Of
the Mississippi, Musical Jack" or
fried rattlesnakes decapitated and
skinned, and showing q meat as white
and firm as a chicken, is a standard
dish.
The octopus, or devil-fsh, when boiled
and then roasted, is eaten in Corsica
and esteemed a great delicacy.
In the Pacific Islands and West Indies
lizards eggs are eaten with great gusto.
The natives of the Antilles eat alligator
eggs, and the eggs of the turtle sra
popular everywhere, though up to the
commencement of the last century tur-
tie was only eaten by the poor of Ja-
maica.
Ants are eaten by various nations
In Brazil they are served with a resin
Gus sauce, and in Africa they are stewed
with grease or butter. The East In
dians catch them in pits and carefully
wash them in handfuls, like raisins. In
Siam a curry of ants eggs is costly
luxury.
The Ceylonese eat the bees after rob-
bing them of their honey.
Caterpillars and spiders are dainties
to the African bushman.
After they have wound the silk from
the cocoon the Chinese eat the crysalis
of the silk worm.
Spiders roasted are a sort of dessert
with the New Caledonians.
The Fiennese are the great snail
eaters in the world. The town of Ulm,
on the Danube, is the principal place
where snails are fattened for the mar
ket- Those which are fattened ON
strawberries command the highest
price, while 10000 are annually export
ed from the isle of Crete. The great
African snail that attains a length of
eight inches, is converted into soup.
Cocks combs are considered a deli
cacy in the Paris restaurants, while the
Briton swallows shrimps in their en-
tirety.