The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-05-02
CLAY EATERS OF ALL COUNTRIES.
Peoples who Have Wanted the Earth
When They Were Hungry.
Phila deIpnla Fress

one1 that which some peoples exhibit Tor
eating earth or clay OF this pTactlce,
which would appear 10 have once pre-
vailed all over the. world. numerous ex-
arnpies were cited by Captain ]. O..
I Bourke United States Army. in the
ninth annual report OF the bureau of az n
noiogy. In some places the custom has
! degenerated into d ceremonial, While IN
others the eating OF this strange food
still prevails as = kind of necessity 10
the lives Of those who are addicted 10 il.
The Mexican d syotees picked up a
piece ~ clay IN the temple Of TeZcatli-
poca ard ate II with the greatest of rev.
erence. and also ate piece of earth In
swearing by the sun and earth. But the
use OF clay by tie Mexicans was not
| merely matter Of ceremony. for il seems
to have been an escuient in common use.
Edible earth was sold openly in the mar
kets of Mexico. and appears in the list or
foods given by Gomara.
Cabeza de Vaca saws that the Indians
5f Florida ate clay. and that the natives
offered him many mesquite beans, which
they ate mixed with earth Nenegas as
serts that the Indians of California ate
earth The traditions of the Indians Of
San Juan Capistrano and vicinity show
that they fed upon kind OF clay, which
they often used upon their heads by way
of ornament The Tatu Indians of Cali
fornia. according to Powers. mix red
3
latter sweet and cause IL 10 go further.
Sir John Franklin relates that the banks
of the Mackenzie river contain layers
of kind OF unctious mud. which the
Tinneh Indians use as food during the
seasons OF famine. and even at other
times chew as an amusement 1t has
milky taste and the flavor is not disa-
greeable. The Apache and Navajo
branches Of the Athabascan family of
North American Indians are not unac-
quainted with the use of clay as a COM
estible, although among the latter Is en-
ployed only as a co1diment TO relieve the
bitterness of the taste of the wild potato.
/ In the same manner il is known TO both
( the Zuni and the Tusayan.
In South America, likewise, the eating
/ of clay prevails among the Indians on
/ the banks OF the Orinoco. throughout
1 Brazil and on the mountains of Bolivia
and Peru.
In Western Africa the negroes of Guinea
( have long been known TO eat yellowish
I ear.h called by them 'caouac," and the
favor and taste of which is very agree
/ able to them and said to cause them no
/ inconvenience. Some addict themselves
| so excessively 10 the use Of 1t that it be-
comes to them real necessity, and 10
/ punishment is sufficient to restrain them
/ from the practice OF consuming it.
When the Guinea negroes were in for
! mer times carried as slaves 10 the West
India islands they were observed to con-
: tinue the custom OF eating clay. But the
''caouac" of the American Islands. or the
I substance which the poor negroes at
/ tempted TO substitute in their new homes
/ for the African earth was found to in
/ jure the health Of the slaves who ate 1t,
| and so the practice was long ago forbid
| den. and has possibly now died out in the
/ West India colonies. In Martinique. a
| species of Ted earth or yellowish tufa
was formerly secretly sold in the markets.
| but the use of ii has probably ceased in
| the French colonies also.
In Eastern Asa a similar practice pre-
| walls in various places. In the Island OF
| Java. between Sourahaya and Samarang,
Lahillardiere saw small, square, reddish
| cakes of earth sold in the village for the
| purpose of being eaten. These We're
/ found by Ehrenberg to consist. for the
: most part Of the remains Of microscopic
/ animals and plants which had lived and
/ been deposited Ia fresh water. Some of
/ the japanese, too. are addicted to the
| practice OF eating earth. DR.. Love some
/ tune ago Published an analysis of a clay
! which is eaten TO a considerable extent
by the Amos; IL occurs in bed several
/ feet thick ~ the valley of Tsietonai Cat
/ earth Valley, on the north coast OF Nesso.
/ II is light gray In color and of fine struc@
/ ture The people mix with the clay frag
/ ments OF the leaf of some plant for the
/ aromatic principle it contains. They eat
/ the earth because they think IL contains
/ some beneficial substance, not because ii
( is a necessity with them. They have
/ meat and abundance OF vegetable food.
! The clay Is eaten In the form OF a soup
! Several pounds are boiled with lily roots
ia a small quantity of water, and after
/ ward strained The Amos pronounce the
/ soup very palatahle.
! In Runiut valley IN the Sikkim Hima-
! layas, a red clay occurs which the natives
/ chew. especially as a cure for the goitrc.
| In Smiths "Aborisines of Victoria" II is
/ stated that a kind OF earth. pounded and
mixed with the root OF the meme ca spe-
/ cies OF Haemadorum). is eaten by the
! natives OF West Australia.
/ In Northern Europe, especially In the
/ remote northern parts of Sweden, kind
! Of earth known by the name % "oread
meal IS yearly consumed by hundreds
( or cart loads. Il Is said. A similar earth
IS commonly mixed with bread In Fin
{ land. In both these cases the eartn en-
ployed consists for the most part Of the
I empty shells Of minute infusoria. In which
/ there cannot exist any ordinary nourish-
nleut
I some Of the siberian tribes when they
travel carry small bag Of their native
( earth the taste ~ which they suppose
VIII preserve them from all the evils Of a
foreign sky. We are told that the Tun-
Euses of Siberia eat a clay called rock
marrow" which they use mixed with
marrow Near the Trial mountains pow
derei gypsum commonly called rock
meal IS sometimes mixed with bread
/ The Jukabirl - Northeastern siberia have
. an earth ~ a sweetish and rather sfrtn-
gent taste. 10 which they as7rtAe Q va
riatv Of sanitary properties when eaten.
In North Germany. on various coca
Stans when famine or necessity has urged
4 il tas in long protracted sieges az FORT
& ref r3aces). a substance called mountain
fn4 arFN ~ n