The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1896-06-27
ABOUT CLAY EATERS.
The Disgusting Habit q Common
In An OountxiA



1hsar Desod-ooms Singular Ra..
se0s fer the AbenlsaAse
Practice.
Among the extraordinary paasiool
Tor eating uncommon things must Be
reekoned that which some people exhib
1t for eating earth or clay. OF this prac.
tice, which would appear to have once
prevailed all over the world, says the
Philadelphia Times, numerous exam.
pies were cited by Capt. j. g. Bourke,
United States army, in the ninth an.
nual report OF the bureau of ethnology.
In some places the custom has deRen-
Grated into ceremonial, while In
others the eating of this strange food
still prevails as kind Of necessity to
the lives Of those who are addicted to it.
The Mexican devotees picked up .
piece OF clay In the temple of Tezcatli.
poca and ate it with the greatest rever-
ence, and also ate q piece Of earth in
swearing by the sun and earth. But
the use of clay by the Mexicans was
not merely . matter OF ceremony, for
the substance seems to have been IN
esculent in common use. Edible earth
was sold openly in the markets of Mex.
leo and appears in the list Of foods
given by Gomara.
Cabeza de Vaca says that the Indians
Of Florida ate clay, and that the natives
offered him many mesquite beans,
which they ate mixed with earth. Vene-
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 .
kind of clay which they often used
upon their heads by way of ornament.
The Tatu Indians of California, accord
ing to Powers, mix red earth into their
acorn bread to make the latter sweet
and cause it to 60 further. Sir John
Franklin writes that the banks of the
Mackenzie river contain layers of
kind Of unctuous mud which the Tin.
neh Indians used as food during the
seasons of famine, and even at other
times chew as an amusement. It 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 un-
acquainted with the use of clay a. q
comestible, although among the former
it Is now rarely used, and among the
latter is employed only as condiment
to relievesthe bitterness of the taste of
the wild potato. In the same manner
1t 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 to eat
yellowish earth called by them
"caouac," and the flavor and taste of
which Is very agreeable to them and
said to cause them no Inconvenience.
Some addict themselves 20 excessively
to the use OF it that it becomes to them
. real necessity, and no punishment is
sufficient to restrain them from the
practice Of consuming It.
When the Guinea negroes were in
former times carried as slaves to the
to continue the custom of eating clay.
But the "caouac" Of the American
islands, or the substance which the
poor negroes attempted to substitute in
their new homes for the African earth.
was found to injure the health of the
slaves who ate it, and so the practice
was long ago forbidden and has possi-
bly, now died out in the West India colo
MES In Martinique, q species of red
earth or yellowish tufa was formerly
secretly sold in the markets, but the
use Of it has probably ceased In the
French colonies also
In eastern Asia . similar practice
prevails in various places. In the
island of Java, between Sourabsya and
Labillardiere saw small
square reddish cakes of earth sold in |
the villages for the purpose of being |
eaten. These were found by Ehren- |
berg to consist for the most part Of the
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. DR.. Love,
,ome time ago, published an analysis
If q clay which is eaten to . consider.
lble extent by the Amos; It occurs in .
BED several feet thick in the valley of i
rsie-tonal (eat-earth Valley on the
,orth coast of Yesso. It is light gray
n color and of fine structure. The peo-
,le mix with the clay fragments Of the
eaf of some plant for tho aromatic
principle it contains.
They eat the earth because they think
{ contains some beneficial substance,
lot because it is necessity with them.
they have meat and abundance Of
food. The clay is eaten In
he form OF . soup. Several pounds
re boiled with lily roots in . small
uantity Of water, and afterward
trained. The Amos pronounce the
CUP very pslatable-
In Runjut valley, in the Sikkim Him
laaas, a red clay occurs which tho na-
ives chew, especially as cure for tho
oitre.
In Smiths "Aborigines Of Victoria,
is stated that q kind Of earth,
ounded and mixed with the root Of
ne ''mene" Il species of Haemadorum),
eaten by natives of west Australia.
Painted % Graaa oe Coen.
~ ss .a;d that the amal1esk niece of