The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1899-10-06
THE EATERS OF CLAY
THERE ARE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE
WHO FEED ON DIRT.

No collection Of national dishes in
cludes earth or clay among them, but
this is a favorlte plat with a good
many millions Of people up and down.
Even in Europe they are not difficult
to find, Of We're not 80 years ago.
Tastes have changed a good deal since
then, no doubt. But human beings do
not readily give up a favorite dish, es-
pecially when 1t Is cheap. II superior
persons denounce 1t. they enjoy the
treat on the sly.
Probably the quarrymen of Kiffha'l'
sen no longer breakfast in public upon
tices Of bread "buttered' with fine
clay, as Humboldt saw them, but WI
should be rather surprised to learn
that thrifty souls among them do not
follow the custom OF their ancestors
of that early experience upon the
banks Of the Amur, where he saw
Russian soldiers eating what they
called "rock butter" a similar clay.
Mr.. Laing had the good fortune to OBJ.
serve the first appreciation Of the deli
cacy, or almost, In one district OF Swe.
den. Five years only before he made
the "tour" so famous in our glandsires'
time there was dearth in the country.
The people had already begun to eat
bark bread" when a very poor wood.
man noticed some white stuff among
the roots of a tree he felled. 1t looked
40 clean and nice that he carried home
a basketful. mixed It with rye and
bark and baked It.. The loaf proved to
be excellent, and no disagreeable con-
sequences followed. SO the woodman
told his %neighbors, and a rush set In.
When the magistrates heard Of this
abnormal provender, they forbade the
use Of 1t, Of course; that would be the
natural impulse Of the superior per-
son But the peasantry were not 10
be persuaded or coerced into rejecting
food which they knew by experience
to be wholesome and n%ourishing.
When MI. Laing visited the district
1T Is called Degenfors-they were u.s.
ing the stuff both for soup and bread.
Samples dispatched to Stockholm for
analysis gave Finely %pulverized flint
anu feldspar. lime, clay, oxide Of iron
and a residuum Of some organic matter
similar to animal which yielded am
monia and IN OIL"
1t Is organic matter which contains
the nourishment everywhere, no doubt,
IL nourishment there be. But that Is
not always the case, and earth eating
seems to deserve more attention than
has yet been paid to 1t, SO far as our
reading goes. Commonly 1t Is dismiss
ed as a degrading practice Of savages.
But German quarrymen, Swedes, even
Russian soldiers, are not to be classed
with savages. Nor are the potters Of
Scinde. Their work Is fashionable at
present and they make money-that H.,
by the Indian standard. But among
their weekly expenses an allowance
must be made for the quantity Of
''chaniah" which their wives and chill
dren consume; ''chanlah" Is q white,
)unctuous earth used for glazing pot
terry.
But, as . rule. of course. 1t Is saw
ages who affect this diet, alike useful
and agreeable to their taste. Few I'M
derstand, perhaps, how common 1t Is.
Instances might be found In every con-
tinent aud every zone by any n who
looked into the matter thoroughly. We
give a few which recur to mind.
Ine Amos are enthusiastic earth eat
ers. In the north Of their island Is a
valley where alone the material can
be dug, but 1t IL carried to all parts.
They boil 1t with the root Of the wild
clay has settled, the remainder is pour
ed Off and eaten like cream. Sir
Spencer st. John reports that the Sea
Dyaks always took q supply Of red
ochre On their piratlcal expeditions as
a reserve In case stores should III
short, land we once found in some de.
serted Seribas praus many packets of
q white, oleaginous clay used for the
same purpose"
In Java little cakes OF earth are sold
I'm the market; women buy and eat
them to preserve a slender shape. The
treatment succeeds, for they lose all
appetite. Humboldt asserts that the
Indians Of Quito put earth and quartz
sand into their drinking water; but
this Is not unusual, SO far as the earth
goes, ut least. We have heard a B0er
family complain that they could no.
where get good water when absent
from their home on the banks Of the
Orange. The water Of the Orange Is a
''puree" Of mud; hence Its name.
The peoples of New Caledonia eat
pieces Of a friable stone, "Lapis oil.
larIs." Messrs. Cloquet and Brlschet,
travelling In those islands, could get
no food for several days. They came
alpon some green laminate tale and ate
five m each; their strength return
ID, and they never felt any inconveni-
ence The Ottomac Indians OF South
America live exclusively on fish when
they can get It. But during the sea-
son of foods there is no fishing, and