Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1906-05-12
CONDEMNED AS FOOD 100
NEARLY EVERYTHING WORTH EAT
ING HAS eeEN UNDER a BAN,
From the Days Of Admin There Has
Heen Not Only Forbidden Fruit, but
Forbidden Meats and Vegetables.
Tho Peculiar Belief of "Totemism."

Heeu Not Only Forbidden Fruit, but
Forbidden Meats and Vegetables.
Tho Peculiar Belief of "Totemism."
From the days OF Adam and Eve to
the present time there has been not
only forbidden fruit, but forbidden
meats and vegetables. For one rea-
son or another people have resolutely
refused to ent any and all kinds of
fiesh fish, fowl, fruits and plants.
Thus the apple, the pear, the strawber-
ry, the ounce, the bean. the onion, the
leek, the asparagus. the woodpecker,
the pigeon, the goose. the deer. the bear,
the turtle and the eel these, to name
only few eatables. have been avoid
ed as IL unwholesomc or positively In
furious to health and digestion.
AS we all know, the Jews have long
had hereditary antipathy to pork. On
the other hand, swlne's Dnsh was high
" esteemed by the ancient Greeks and
Romans. This fact Is revealed by the
many references TO pig as II dainty bit
of food. AT the great festival held an
nually In honor OF Demcter roast pig
was the piece de resistance in the bill
Of fare because the pig wns the sacred
animal Of Demeter. Aristophanes In
The Frogs makes one of the char.
acters hint TINT some Of the others
smell of roast pig" These people un.
doubtc,lly had been mt the festival,
known as the Thcsmophoria. and had
eaten freely of roast pig Those who
took part in another Greek mystery or
stained from certain food and, above
all, from beans.
Again, as we NIL know, mice are ea-
teened In China and In some parts Of
India, but the ancient Egyptians,
Greeks and Jews abhorred mice and
would not touch mouse meat. Rats and
field mice were sacred in old Egypt
and were not to be eaten on this ac-
count. So, too, In some parts OF Greece,
tho mouse was the sacred animal Of
Apollo, and mice were fed In his tenn
pies. The chosen people were forbid
den TO ent "the weasel and the mouse
and the tortoise after his kind" These
cHme under the deSignati lion OF unclean.
But people have abstained from eat
Ing kinds OF flesh which could not be
called unclenn. For example. the people
of ThebeS. rs HerOdotus tells us, ab-
stained from sheep. What Is the mat
ter With mutton chops? Then, the m
clients used to abstain from certain
vegetables. Inleeds the Romans sncer-
ell at those Egyptians who did not dare
to eat onions. lecks or garlic. and yet
the Romans themselves were supersti-
tlons about what they alto or what they
should avoid eating.
In his, Roman Questions" Plutnrch
asks. why do the I.atlns abstain
strictly from the flesh OF the woodpeck-
err" In order to answer Plutarch's
question correctly II Is necessary to
have some idea Of the peculiar custom
and belief called "totemism." There Is
stage OF society In which people claim
descent from and klnship with beasts,
birds. vegetables and other objects.
This object. which Is totem" or
family mark. they religiously abstain
from eating. The members OF the tribe
ere divided into clans or stocks. each
Of which takes the name of some ami
NAL plant or object. as the bear. the
buffalo. the woodpecker. the asparagus.
and so forth. No member Of the bear
family would dare to eat bear meat,
Bat, lie has no objection to eating buff
falo steak. Even the marriage law Is
based on this belief. and no man whose
family name Is Wolf may marry a wo'
null whose family name is also Wolf
In general way 1t may be said that
almost MI our food prohibitions spring
from the extraordinary custom gen.
orally called totemism. Mr.. Swan. who
was n missionary. for many years IN
the Kongo Free State. thus describes
the custom: II were to ask the Yeke
people why they do not eat zebra flesh
they would reply, "Chitiin"-i. e., "It is
thing to which we have an antIpa-
thy" or, better, 1T ia one OF the things
which our fathers taught us not to eat
So. 1t seems the word "bashilang'
mems "the people who have an M.
tlpathy TO the leopard" the "bnslla.
LAMBDA" those who have nm antipathy
to the dog" and the "bashilanlanzefu.
"those who have an antipathy to The
elephant In other words. the mcm.
bers OF these stocks refuse to eat their
totems. the zebra, the leopard and the
elephant. from which they take their
names.
Tho survival OF antipathy to certain
foods was found among people as
highly civilized rs the Egyptians, the
Greeks and the Romans. Quite list
Of animals whose flesh was forbidden
might be drawn mp. For example. in
old Egypt the sheep could not be enten
In Thebes, nor the goat In Mendes. nor
the cut In Bubnstis, nor the crocodile
at Ombos. nor the rat. which was sa.
cred to Ra, the sun god. However. the
people OF one place had no scruples
about eating the forbidden food of an
other place, and this often led to re-