Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1905-07-20
SOME QUEER THINGS
WHICH PEOPLE EAT
From Sao Fraor;eeo Chron;efe

A writer in London Lancet expresses the opinion
that there is no excuse for complaint about the monot-
ony of mans daily meals. A little exertion and enter
prise. he says, viii enable any one to exclusively diver,
sify his menu and without great expense. He says:
"In this connection It is interesting to consider some
of the more or less odd materials which man has been
led to choose for the purposes of food. Environment, of
course, must be a factor in regard to this choice, and
necessity also. 1t is hard to imagine that earth would
be used for choice as food, and yet such has been the
case in many countries during famine. The Laplanders
mix earth with their bread, the Russian peasant uses a
rock -four and the poorer classes in Hungary are driven
occasionally to eat an earth which contains but a trifing
proportion of nourishing principles. The use of seaweed
as food is an example Of the determining factors of both
necessity and environment. 1t is not a little astonishing
to find what a number of seaweeds are really edible and
n%ourishing. Perhaps the best known example in this
country is laver, which is a kind of stew made from a
weed, an alga (Porphyra laciniata). The laver made on
the Devonshire coast, and to be found in some London
shops, is excellent. The sea algae. indeed, prove on
analysis to contain a considerable proportion of nitro
genous matter, and as they are usually tender they are
~digestible. There are also several sea MOSES which
are esteemed for their escuient properties. Agar-agar
is another example of a seaweed yielding a nutrient
jelly. 1t is supposed that the edible birds nest so highly
esteemed when prepared in the form of soup by the
Chinese has its origin In the birds feeding upon agar
agar. On the other hand, it is said that the substance
of which the nest is composed is secreted from certain
glands which are developed during the nest-building
season, but which lose this function afterward. The
viscid substance resembles the mucin or albumin eX
creted by the sublingual gland
Among other odd articles of food, the writer thinks
It proper to enumerate the turtle, since it is the only
example Of an edible reptile, at least in England. Even
frogs legs, he says, are rarely eaten there, though they
are easily digested, possess a delicate flavor and have
about the same n~utritive value as chicken. He adds:
Neither is the snail esteemed as an article of food
in this country, though in France it is partaken of in
large quantities, and so good is it that it has been called
ISthe poor mans oyster The edible snail, however, is
a particular kind and is generally collected in consider
able number from the vineyards in the south of France
In Spain the snail is served in a most excellent and
appetizing manner, and in Paris a dish of selected snails
is reserved for the special use of the gourmet. Goa
would appear to be a strange article of food, but in
stances are known in which children and cats have been
often found consuming it in a not negligible quantity
There is no evidence, however, although coal contains
an abundance of one of the most important elements
of food. e, carbon-that in this form it is in the
least degree assimilated. 1t is almost Impossible tc
oxidiZe by wet methods carbon in the free state, whereas
in combination with other elements, and especially
hydrogen, as in the carbohydrates, wet combustion in
the economy readily ensues. Such instances of odd
foods could be multiplied, but those quoted serve to
show the extraordinary range of material selected by
man for the purposes of food"