The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1892-06-22
4 VICTII OF DISCOVERY.
The Grn-Shop2er as An Article of Food
= The Results of Scientific Investigation.
fG!:enville News.

ii appears lllal the STaSSuO!'pel IL no
more 70 be burden, and the old fable
in which he was recorded as friVo-
lous insect playing all the summer and
freezing i'll the winter and generally
useless, don't 60 any more. We have
always, been sonewha. dubious over
the fable anyhow. AS we remember, it
was intended to contrast the unproti-
table career and unhappy fate of the
idIing, singing, jumping grasshopper
with the industry, frugality and COM
fort of the patient and laborious ant.
We have never been quite able, how
ever. to avoid the cOnclusOn that be-
tween the two the grasshopper had the
beat OF it. He enjoyed himself half
the year anyhow, while the ant
worked hard all the summer for the
privilege Of going down in hole in the
ground and remaining there all the
winter 50 that he could come out in
the spring and go to work again. The
ant may enjoy it in his own way but
he always impressed us as being very
busy doing mighty little and as not
having much fun.
However that may be, they are
going to put the grasshopper to work
now in this country as an article Of
diet. They have been eating him in
Palestine a long time, although it is
rather a curious and uncanny combi-
nation, according to our standards OF
gastronomic taste, to butter him with
wild honey. Our agricultural depart
ment has been experimenting with
him, however. A newspaper article
tells US:
"Experimcnts have been made by
the scientific corps OF the department
of agriculture which prove that grass
hoppers are both palatable and nutrl-
tious. Gentlemen employed in the in
vestigation, says the Washington Star,
have tried them in many styles Of
cookery and have declared them to
be delicious. Uufedged grasshoppers
boiled for two hours, with butter
spices, and salt added, compose a
broth that is scarcely distinguishable
from beef broth, though possessing
peculiar aud indescribable flavor of its
own. Fried in their own oil, or roasted,
they have most agreeable nutty taste
and crispness. Ground and COM
pressed they will last fresh indefinite
ly.
"Persons who have looked into the
subject assert that insects might furn-
ish to mankind important contrlbu-
tions of food which are at present un-
used and despised. 1t has been ascer-
tanned by the government experts that
young wasp grubs fried in butter are
most agreeable delicacy. On every
farm. the nests Of these insects are
rutblessly destroyed, whereas little
knowledge would show the much
afflicted agriculturist how to de-
rive from them a wholesome dish
for his table. Young wasp grubs, fed
as they are upon the sweetest juices
drawn from fruits and flowers, natu-
rally possess most delicate flavor.
Perhaps the best way to prepare them
is to bake them in the comb.
"Some very important uses for
grasshoppers have recently been dis
covered. There would seem to be no
reason why they should not be applied
to commercial advantage in the event
of plague this year. Not long ago
four quarts of liquor, pressed from half
bushel of 'hoppers' under cheese
press, were shipped in a glass ar from
Spirit Lake, Iowa, to Prof. William
X, Kedzie, of the Kansas State agri-
cultural college. He made complete
analysis and by distiIliug the juice
with sulphuric acid obtained color
less, limpid solution of formic acid.
Now, this acid is very valuable, having
present market quotation Of 60 cents
an ounce. 1t is not only employed III
| medicine to a considerable extent, but
is also utilized in the laboratory to re-
duce the salts Of the noble metals,
gold, silver and platinum. Hitherto
it has always been extracted from req
ants, but the possibility of getting 1t IN
large quantities from grasshoppers sug-
cests a method for employing those
insects TO an unlocked for advantage.
An interesting feature of the analysis
was the discovery Of certain amount
of copper in the liquid. This meta!
has been found in the blood of other
animals, particularly in that OF tAe
horseshoe crab, which always furnishes
q trace Of it. 1t is not suggested, how
ever, that grasshoppers would assay 4
sufficient amount of copper to the ton
to make it worth while to smeil
them.
incidentally to he experiments
conducted by the division OF entomolo'
gy respecting the edible qualities OF III
spcts. q numUer Of trials were made OF
beverage particularly novel, whlch
might be termed 'ante-ade.' 1t was
an imitation OF lemonade nanutac
tured from ants. They were mashed
up few hundred at i time, in NOR
tar with a pestie, and the liquid from
them. after being strained, was mixed
lust like lemon juice, with water arc
sugar. The resulting beverage resem
bles lemonade 50 closelyas to be scarcely )
dis,ingui,lab!e from it. The reason
why is very easy to explain. forml'
acid, is the nearest approach to cltrl'
acid. which gives lemon juice It's flavor