The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-10-06
cURIosITIEs OF DIET.
Strange Things that Serve Man for
 Food in Many Lands.

Mans gastronomlc predilections do not cease at beast and bird and fish; the rep tile and insect world contribute their quota to his heterogeneous table, says Chambers Journal.
 The turtle Is the cornerstone of even an aldermanic banquet and it is not surpris- ing that the land tortoise is used as food wherever he is found. Lizards of all sorts and sizes are eaten in Asia, Africa Amer- ica and Australia, and what is the croco- dile or alligator but lizard of a larger growth?
 In Egypt and along the great rivers of other parts of Africa, South America and Southern Asia the ungainly reptile is de- voured with relish. Europeans do not take kindly to 1t as an article of diet, although they try it out of curiosity.
 One would think the line might well be drawn at snakes, But because of that evil reputation gained just after the dawn of the creation the reptile cannot be allowed to shirk his obligations. The Chinaman utlllzes snakes for sustenance and for medicine. and he is kept in countenance by the Indians of America, the negroes of Africa, the Malaysians and the Japanese. Coming nearer home. the Italians favor a dish of viper jelly, and the late Frank Buckland, whose geological enthusia Sm knew no bounds, assured us that boacon- strictor tasted like veal.
 Frogs are eaten from east to west, from China to the United States. The French were the first to serve the frog up at table, but the Yankees run them close second. Who knows but that some day the British will further cement the en- tente cordiale by adopting the Gallc taste for the hopping amphibian?
 Snals, slimy and repulsive, are looked upon with loathing by the average Briton. But in France, Switzerland, the south of Europe and the United States any senti- mental repugnance Is not allowed to weigh against the undoubted nutritive qualities of the land mollusk. The snals are col lected by women and children and are then placed In enclosures to feed upon selected vegetable food to mpart to them the requisite flavor
 John the Baptist lived locusts and wild honey and innumerable people regale themselves on the same food today. Afri- can races are the chief eaters of locusts, a diet that shortens the span of life to two score years. When famine stalks the land the Arab grinds to powder the dried insects he has stored, and with flour bakes it into bread. Honey Is in cosmo- politan favor, but the Cingalese eat bees to add fragrance to the breath.
 In Brazil. the East Indies, Mexico and among the Indians of North America ants are largely consumed, as are the larger termites of Africa, and naturally the Chi- nese will not miss their turn with the insect
 There is no accounting for tastes and consequently one Is content with bald1y stating that In New Caledonia particu- larly large spiders. and in Brazil eighteen inch long centipedes. are greatly en- joyed When the cook inadvertently sends up a boiled caterpillar with the vegetables John Bull says things ''of sorts" Let him take heart of grace, for caterpillars. large and small, are eagerly eaten in many regions. as are silk worms in Madagascar and Ceyion From the Medical Record.