The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-02-01
THE HUMAN GLUTTON
Ne IS THE eREsoIEsr or AL AMI.
MAJ eoRMANolzgRs.

N-
nts ABILITY 60 oateat Anythtng Else
In Creatiea, sine aud Opportunities
Considered - Appetites OF airas.
Beasts and Man.
SO COMMONLY are persons Of large ap-
petite upbraided as hogs, gluttens or
sortncranu that the question suggests
itself. Are these Illustrations accurate
pr must tney be accepted by natural
lists with the same qualification that be-
scnaa to such comparisons as silly as
q goose" "blind as a bat" ''timid as n
hare" aud many others equally popular
In every day talk Those who have
studied such creatures know that geese
often display undenisole cunning; that
hats. though endowed with senses Of
which we have no equivalent. are not
blind and that hares can at times be
most pugnscious.
From the general contemplation OF
whether these and other animals 50 de
seribed are greedy out Of the common
run, II Is but q step to the problem
whether any living beast or bird, rep
tile, fish or insect. ls actually greedier
than the greediest man. writes I. G.
Afiaio In the Pall Mall Magazine.
Obviously. Il 10 fair In such a COM
parison to take the case OF the man
who can and does eat more than his
fellows because such man, disagree
able though he may be from one stand
point. Is undeniably more natural than
thoee who. bowling to the verdict OF the
medical attendant or restrained BY con-
sideratioas Of polite behavior. habitual-
b eat less than they could II they were
to continue eating until unable to swal-
low more.
The whole system Of feeding In our
artificial lives is quite distinct from
that adopted In the rvst Of the animal
world and doubtless also from that
which was In vogue with the cave men.
Able by various devices to procure our
food as required, we have appointed
certain feeding times, and at these we
rigidly take our meals - breakfast,
luncheon and dinner.
The wild creatures Of nature know
no such restraint. The birds In our
garden are always pecking at the lawn
for worms or at the boughs for berries.
The lethargic cattle in the meads when
not actually grazing are ruminating.
which is grazing over again. The cat
erpillars ON our rose trees, the ants Ia
our storeroom. are always at table.
Only civilized man aud his domestic
animals know the formality Of meal
times. And so II Is throughout nature
with all the four footed and winged
creatures.
In considering the appetltes aud
tastes of man and the lower animals II
n Of importance 10 distinguish in ey-
cry class between the gluttons (the
word is used conventionally and with
cut prejudice and the epicures, more
happily differentiated by the French as
gormands and gourmets, the former
Of which prefer quantity. while the lat
ter are all for the quality OF their food.
The human race furnishes lnnumer-
able examples Of both. Haydn, the
composer, would sometimes order six
covers for dinner and dine alone. One
king Of England died after a surfeit Of
lampre.s; the undolng Of another was
an excessive meal OF peaches and new
ale.
With these may be ranked Sporeo-
gambi, a human hog. who ate 2.OOo
yards OF maearoni at sitting, and
Domery, the Pole, who in the pres
ence of witnesses devoured in one
fourteen pounds OF raw beef
and almost the same weight OF tallow
These are the gluttons, and If we
compare Domery's feat with the daily
meal of a full grown working elephant
weighing five or six tons-namely. 13D
pounds OF vegetable food-we find the
man the greedier OF the two.
The epicures are less repulsive. \
former Duke Of Portland, who paid
high prices for red mullet and ate only
the Ivers, was benefactor Of trade.
and tile famous Comte de Broussin.
who despised mushrooms unless their
favor had been brought out by his
mule treadlng on them, likewise en-
tertained in princely style and made an
art Of eating.
Every class OF animals has It's ex-
amples Of these two categories With
the epicures we may class the giraffe;
with the gormandlzers the yulture.
The following selection will approx
mately serve TO illustrate by more or
less familiar animal types the two
classes:
GIuttons. Epieures
Mole. Giraffe.
Boar. Aard wolf.
Rear. Ant eater.
Hyena Sperm whale.
Killer whale Manatee.
Z Hornbllls. Osprey.
vulture. = Humming birds.
C,ornorant. = Gray mlllet
Z Sea gull = Bees and wasps.
Pythons.
Sandhopper.
7 Burying beetle.
= Sharks.
Living food carrion. Vegetarian
II must also be remembered that the
man who eats immense meals lacks
the excuse Of these heavier feeders In
the wild LIE. The mole the vulture,