The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1906-03-23
CONDEMNED AS FOOD
NEARLY EVERYTHING WORTH EAT
ING HAS BEEN UNDER A BAN.

Crom the Days of Adam There Has
Been Not only Forbidden Fruit, but
Forbidden Meats and vegetables.
The Peculiar Belief of "Toteniism."
From the days of Adam and Eve 10
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 10 eat any and all kinds or
flesh, fish, fowl, fruits and plants.
Thus the apple, the pear, the strawber-
nv. the ounce, the bean. the onion, the
Ieek. the asparagus. the wOodpecker,
the pigeon, the goose. the deer, the bear,
the turtle and the eel-these, TO name
only a few catables, have been avoid
ed as if unwhocsomc or positively in
furious TO health and digestion.
AS we all know, the Jews have long
had a hereditary antipathy to pork ON
the other hand, swine's flesh was high
ly esteemed by the ancient Greeks and
Romans. This fact is revealed by the
many references TO pig as dainty bit
Of food At the great festival held an
nualy I'm honor Of Dcmctcr roast pig
was the piece de resistance in the bill
Of fare because the pig was the sacred
animal Of Demcter. AristOpAane5 in
"The Frogs" makes one Of the char
acters hint that some Of the others
"smell OF roast pig" These people un-
/ doubtedly had been at the festival,
known as the ThcsmOphOria end had
eaten freely Of roast pig. Those who
took part i'm another Greek mystery or
festival, known rs the Eleusinia, abb
stained from certain food and, above
all, from beans.
Again, as we all know, mice are cs-
teemed in China and I'm some parts Of
India, but the ancient Egyptians,
Greeks ana Jews abhorrcd mice ana
would not touch mouse meat, Rats ana
field mice were sacred i'm old Egypt
and were not TO bc eaten on dis acc
count. SO, too, i'm some parts OF Greece
: the mouse was the sacred animal OF
Apollo. and mice were fed i'm his tenn
pies. The chosen people were forbid
den TO eat "the weasel and the mouse
and the tortoise after his kind These
came under the designation Of unclcan.
But people have abstaiuci from eat
ing kinds of flesh which could not be
called unclean For example, the people
of Thcbcs as IcrodJtus tells us, alb
stained from sheep. What is The mat
ter with mutton chops? Then, the an
clients used TO abstain from certain
vegetables. Indeed, the Romans Sueer-
ed at those Egyptians who did not dare
to eat onions, lccl>s or garlic, ana yet
the Romans themselves were slpersii-
tious about what they ate or what they
should avoid eating.
In his Roman Questions Plutarch
asks. "Why do the Latins abstain
strictly from the flesh Of the woodpecE-
err" In order To answer Elularch
question correctly it is necessary to
have some idea Of the peculiar custom
and belief called "totcmism.' There is
. a stage of society in which people claim
descent from and kinShip with beasts
birds, vegetables and other objects
This object. which is a "totcm,' Oh
a family mark. they rcligiously abstain
from eating. The members of the tribe
j. are divided into clans or stocks, each
OF which takes the name of some am
NAL. plant or object as the bear the
. buffalo, the wOudpCCkcr the asparagus
and so forth. no member OF the beal
: family would dare TO eat bear meat
but he has no objection TO eating bui
5; falo steak Even the marriage law Is
g based on this belief, and no man whose
+ family name is Wolf may marry a Wo
r man whose family name is also Wolf.
In general way it may Ice said tina
almost all our food prohibitions sprin,
from the extraordinary custom gen
. orally called totcmism. Mr. Swan, WA'
was missionary for many years %
a, the Kongo Free state, thus describes
4 the custom: If were 10 ASK th' 1"N
o people why they do not eat zebra flesh
= they would reply. "Chii.lo'-i a.. 'lt fl
y n thing to which we have am anynl
;, thy" or better 1T is one of the iIuE
!. which our fathers taught lis not to r1.
!, So it seems the word "h1shu"n-
= means "thc people who have am am
v tipathy to the leopard the "basha
; LAMBDA" those who have an antipoth.
TO the dog" and the "bashil0ulanzeiu
l. "thOSc who nave IN 0hUihNlI 10 b'
elephant" In other words, the mom
bcrs Of these stocks refuse to eat the.
totcms the zebra, the leopard and tn
elephant. from which they take thei
.. names.
The survival OF autinathy to ccrtoi
foods was found among people a
:, highly civilized rs the Egyptians IN
Greeks and the Romans Quite us
~ OF animals whose 0cSh was forhidtc
c might bc drawn up. For example. /
old Egypt the sheep could not he cate
1t in Thebes. nor the goat i'm Meudcs, uo
3 the eat in Buba>tis. nor the cr'eouu
J., at Omhos, nor the rat, which was s.,
% cred to Ra, the sun god However th
people of one place had mo- scruvlg
about eating the forbidden food OF al
Z. ..N IN d