The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-08
WHAT THE ANc1ENTs ATE.
Queer Things for Food in Various
Times and Places.
From the New Orleans Picayune

From the New Orleans Picayune
The curious associations attached TO
eating and drinking are innumerable, and
Miss auckland, in Our Viands," book
recently published, has only dipped a
swallows wing into an ocean of general
information. She has produced a mass of
fine confused reading" to parody the
praises of a sleeps head, though her
sources are far from being reconcile. A
whole library might be written on the
antiquities of eating, which at once con-
meet themselves with the history of civil
cation and of religion. What print
tive man dined upon we do not
know for certain. If his habits
were really arhoreal he probably bat
tened much on roots and nuts. We may
be inclined to lament the early martyrs
of science and gastronomy who tried
everything, and many things that were
poisonous. But early men were probably
not without the instincts of other animals,
which seldom eat natural foods that are
poisonous The evidence of the heaps of
refuse called kitchen middens proves that
shellfiSh were much IN demand, but Miss
auckland thinks that the natives of
Britain did not eat natives" till the
Romans set the example. This may have
been the result of ignorance or of supersti-
ton. In Australia Sir George Gray
caused alarm among his native guides by
eating mussels. They pointed out to him
that a thunder storm was the immediate
consequence and that the Boilyas were
angry The ancient BritOnS may have
had some similar prejudice about oysters
The origin of these taboos on rArions
foods may differ in different cases. Often
the old men taboo a food because they
want to keep it for themselves. This can
-. 1f
when he forbade the eating Of beans, for
he did not eat them himself. On this odd
matter the learned have displayed their
ingenuity and erudition. Very likely Mr..
Jevons has hit on the real reason, but it is
too anthropological for general discussion.
Early man had not many scruples about
eating other early men, so long as they
were not his own kith and kin. His rea-
tives he did not eat, except as a kind of
religious ceremony, by way of keeping
them and their virtues in the family. He
was very fond of marrow; the bones
which remain from his festival have usu-
ally been cracked, so as to extract the
popular dainty. Really low savages, like
those of Australia. eat almost everything
against which there is no religious
prohibition. Their cookery is simple, but
they do flesh, human and other, zen papil
lotte, " wrapped up in leaves and baked in
the embers. Serpents, worms and grubs
do not come amiss TO them, and nature,
pitying their restitution, has enabled
them to get drunk on brown sugar and
water. Yet, fond as they are of wild
honey, we do not learn that they have
found out how TO make mead
The early history of bread IS wrapped
up in a mystery. Where did wheat grow
originally, or did men cultivate some
grass till il developed into wheatl
Egyptian monuments show no age when
grain was not in use-the Swiss lake
jewellers were agriculturists. The Roman
antiquaries and their Greek predecessors
thought man tried his prentice teeth on
acorns-hearts Of oak were the natural
results among the survivors. Quite mod
ern Sardinians have been acorn-eaters,
and Corsica lived on chestnuts till Turgot
had the trees cut down, by way of en-
couraeing more refined tastes Modern
stomachs demand white bread though
rye is eaten in Russia and Germany. A
passion for oats was objected 10 the Scotch
as early as 1900 and b. Dr johnson.
But whore do you see finer men, #" as the
North Briton replied, and porridge Is
still a fayOrite dainty even with people
who can afford rolls, while there Is kind
Of elective affinity between oat cakes and
marmalade. Corn must have been