Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1895-06-16
ABOUT CLAY EATERS:
The Disgusting Habit Is Common
In An Countriea
Tribes OF indiana Who Nix Mod with
Their Dread-Some Singular Rea-
sons for the AbomipAbie
Practice.

Among the extraordinary passions
for eating things must be
reckoned that which some people c.:hib-
1t for eating earth or clay. OF this prac-
tice, which would appear to have oase
prevailed all oxer the world, says the
Philadelphia Times. numerous exam.
pies were cited by Capt. j. q. Bourke,
United States army, in the ninth an
nual report of the bureau of e~thnology.
In some places the custom has degcn-
Grated into 4 ceremonial. while in
others the eating of this strange food
still prevails as u kind of necessity to
the lives of those who are addicted to it.
The Mexican devotees picked up u
piece of clay in the temple of Tczcatli-
poca and ate it with the greatest rcvcr-
nee, and also ate n piece of earth in
swearing by the sun and earth. But
the use of clay by the Mexicans was
not merely n matter Of ceremony, for
the substance seems to have been an
csculcnt in common use. Edible earth
was sold openly in the markets Of Mex
leo and appears in the list of foods
given by Gomura.
Cabc:a lie Naca say hat the Indians
OF Florida ate clay, and that the natives
offered him many mesquite beans,
which they ate mixed with earth. Vcne-
gas asserted that the Indians Of Cali
fornia ate earth. The traditions of the
Indians of San Juan Capistrano and
vicinity show that they had fed upon Il
Kin of clay which they often used
upon their heads by a of ornament.
The Tntu Indians of California, accord
ing to Powers, mix red earth into their
acorn bread to make the latter sweet
and cause it to go further. Sir John
Franklin writes that the banks of the
Maciscnzic river contain LAYERS of n
kind of unctuous mud which the Tin
nch Indians used as food during the
seasons OF famine, and even at other
times chew as an amusement. 1t has n
milky taste and the flavor is not disa-
Erccablc. The Apache and Navajo
branches of the AthabaScan family of
North American Indians are not I'M
acquainted with the use of clay as n
SomcStiblc, although among the former
it is now rarely used, and among the
latter is employed only rs II condimcnt
to relieve the bitterness of the taste of
h wild potato. In the same amer
it is known to both the Zuni and the
Tusayan.
In South America, likewise, the eat
ing of clay prevails among the Indians
on the banks of the Orinoco, through
out Brazil and on the mountains of
Bolivia and Peru.
In western Africa the negroes OF
Guinea have long been known t. eat IL
yc"S".si eai;i. va..cd by them
~''caouac," and the flavor and taste Of
which is YER agreeable to them and
said to cause them no Inconvenience.
Some addict themselves SO excessively
to the use of it that it becomes to tlIc:1
Il real necessity, and no punishment is
sufficient 10 restrain them from the
practice of consuming it.
When the Guinea negroes were in
former times carried as slaves to the
West India islands they were observed
to continue the custom of eating clay.
But the ''caouac' of the American
islands, or the substance which the
Dpoor negroes attempted to substitute III
their new homes for the African earth.
"a found to injurc the health of the
slaves who ate it, and so the practice
was long ago forbidden and has posi-
bly, now died outin the West India colo
MES. In Martinique, n species of red
earth or ycilowish tufa was formerly
secretly sold in the markets, but the
use of it has probably ceased in the
French colonies also.
In eastern Asia n similar practice
prevails in various places. In the
island Of Java, between Sourabaya and
Samnrang, L~abillnrdicrc saw small
square reddish cakes of earth sold in
H. .ll..rn TO- 1a =
eaten. These were found by Ehrcn-
berg to consist for the most part of the
remains OF microscopic animals and
plants which had lived and been de-
posted in fresh water. Some OF the
Japanese, too, are addicted to the
practice of eating earth. DIR. Love,
some time ago, published an analysis
OF Il clay which Is eaten To u consider.
able extent by the Amos; it occurs in Il
bed several feet thick In the valley of
Tsic-tonul (cat-carth Valley on tho
north coast OF Ycsso. II Is light gray
in color and of fine structure. The pco.
pie mix with the clay fragments of the
leaf of some plant for the aromatic
principle IL contains.
They cnt the earth because they think
il contains some beneficial substance,
not because II is n necessity with them.
They have meat and abundance oi
vegetable food. The clay is eaten IN
the form of n soup. Several pounds
arc boiled with lily roots in II small
quantity of water, and afterward
strained. The Amos pronounce the
soup very palatable.
In Runjut valley, in the Sitltim Him
~aluaas, IL red clay occurs which the M
tivcs chew, especially as n cure for tho
goitrc.
In Smiths "Aborigincs OF Victoria,
it is stated that n kind of earth
pounded and mixed with the root OF
the ''mcnc" "a species of II%acmadorum)
is eaten by natives OF west Australia.