The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-17
SOME STRANGE FOODS.
THE CHINESE BIRDS NEST THE
HOST SINCLAIR.

Original Natives of south America
Looked Upon tiIisators rs Titbits.
Moss a Cure for COEsumption-Lo-
Gusts Are Eaten By Semi-CiviIizcts
Europeans, aud We Have Our Car
oIina Clay Eaters.
From the Hartford Times.
OF all strange foods that men have ever
used, the one that seems most singular
to us is the birds nest used by the Chi
nese. The edible nests are those Of the
Nicohar swallows, found in the cluster
Of Islands Of that name in the Bay of
Bengal. These nests form one of the
principal exports Of the islands. They
are held in the highest estimation by the
Chinese. as an article Of food.
In Abyssinia. according 10 Bruce. they
cut steaks from a live COW, and eat the
flesh warm with It's natural heat.
In Siam the flesh of crocOdiles is sold
regularly in the markets as human food.
They are eaten by the natives Of Africa
also. Herodotus says they We're eaten
by the Egyptians near Elephantne.
though worshipped and the lives sacredly
preserved by the inhabitants of other
parts Of Egypt
America were eaten by the aborigines,
as they are stiIl in some parts of these
countries.
The general rule is that beasts OF prey
are not good for food. but there are strik-
ing exceptions TO the rule, and, among
others. the tiger is sometimes eaten in
India.
There seems to be no really good reason
4. T.. .r
country where they originally belonged.
China, they are commonly used for that
purpose; as, indeed, in Paris, during the
siege, people were often glad to sit down
to a feast of this kind.
The fox, though, an object of sport IS
seldom thought of in connection with the
table yet it is sometimes eaten by In
dams.
The skunk of North America is gener-
ally thought to be as unlikely a subject
for culinary purposes as could be found
in nature, but il is not only used by In
dams and hackwoodsmen, but is declared
TO be remarkably palatable when its pre-
parauon is sufficiently guarded.
Several species of monkeys afford food
for the natives of their habitats. Travellers
VINO have tried them declare them good.
The so-called king of beasts is usually
associated with eating rather than being
eaten, yet the lion is an article of food
among the natives of the countries he in
habits.
Dogs are eaten by the California IN
them for this purpose in ordinary times,
because they are too valuable to them for
other purposes. Marco Polo says the Tar
tars used dogs for food, as did also the
MeXicans the native dog, or Alec.
The chase Of the horse for the purposes
of food was one Of the chief occupations
Of man in Europe in the Neolthc age
Inc Iartars eat horses as regular diet,
and there are many butcher shops in
Paris and Vienna where only horsefesh
is sold
The wild ass is eaten in Abyssinia; and
the flesh Of the sucking foal is esteemed
by the Lasilio great dainty.
The milk of asses is also used in Abys-
slnia, as Is the milk of mares by the
Tartars.
The tallest and awkwardest Of all Gre
atures, the giraffe, when grown to ma
turity, is defended from all human teeth
by it's impenetrable toughness, but when
young it is esteemed highly as food.
The rhinoccros, the elephant and the
hippopotamus, three most gigantic of
creatures, are all edible, and, indeed,
greatly esteemed as food.
The porcupine has a repulsive exAe-
rior, but a delicious interior, when prop
rly served.
How strange it seems to eat moss,
Yet the Iceland moss found in the west
and north Of that country, is excellent
for cOnsumptiVes and is used in Iceland
in times Of scarcity
The rattlesnakes Of North America are
eaten by Indians as. indeed are also
other snakes by our Indians, and by the
negroes of Africa.
The Old World species of locusts form
articles of food with certain semi-civii-
lied and savage races, by whom they arc
considered as delcacies, or as part OF
ordinary diet.
There is a kind of clay eaten by certain
degraded people in the Carolinas.
Grasshoppers are eaten by Indians
To most people in our country snails
seem to be a strange food, though they
have been used for n long time in France,
Italy and Spain. The helix pOmatia. or
the edible snail. which is the kind that
is used, has in recent years been farmed
in this country, and sold in the New YORK
markets.
The selection of the tongues of birds
as an article of diet seems to US strange
yet the tongues of song birds and of the
peacock were great delicacies among the
Romans.
Few of us, or indeed. of any people
would think of eating parrots specially
if anything else could be gotten, yet the
Romans esteemed them for the table.
Cranes are sometimes used for food.
The American ostrich, of South Amer
lea, is eaten. both flesh and eggs. The
eggs of the African ostrich are used, ano
the flesh, when the bird is young.
The albatrosS, largest and strongest OF
birds, produces eggs that are edible.
There is weed in this country much
cursed by all who have to do with the
soil and its products. called in vulgar
phrase 'pussly" No one in this country
would think of eating it, yet this foe of
farmers and gardeners is used as a salad
in Europe and in Egypt
Acorns in this country are put to no
use, unless it be for swine; but in Saxon
( times mast was valued not only for
herds, but for man. In times of dearth
acorns were boiled and eaten by the poor
in England and in France. as one species
is still in Southern Europe.
Beech-mast has been used in times OF
famine and distress.
Whales are no longer eaten by civilized
men. but in the thirteenth century their
tongues were held in great esteem i'm
parts of Europe. Whales are now. with
seals and walruses, the chief food OF
many inhabitants of the Arctic regions
OF the narwhal the Greenlanders eat
flesh, fat and skin.
Isinglass is a strange food: it is a CELIA
tine prepared from the air of bladders OF
different kinds of fish from large rivers
that flow into the North and Caspian
seas.
The sea lion is used by the natives of
the PribylOff Islands and other parts of
Alaska. The natives dry the flesh before
using it.
The fat dormOuse was eaten by the Ro-
mans.
1t would seem strange to US to sit down
to a meal of the flesh of the camel. vet il
is commonly used by the people where il
houIishes
The Armadilloes of South America are
repulsive to look upon. but they are eat
en- by the natives and Portuguese and
Spaniards and when roasted in the shell
are considered a great delicaey.
The opossum of America is passed by
by most people, yet il is considered one
= ~ 90 e.. III