Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1906-10-26
CURIOUS ARTICLES
USED AS HUMAN FOOD
John the Baptist Heads the
List With His Diet of
LoCusts.
RATS, SNAlLS FOR CHiNkS
There Is No Accounting for Tastes, So
While We Stick to Beef, Pork, Etc,
Alphonse Insists on
Frogs Legs.

Mans ~gaStronomic predictions do
not cease at beast and bird and fish;
the reptile and insect world contribute
their quota to his Heterogeneous table,
says Chambers Journal.
The turtle is the cornerstone of ven
an aldermanic banquet, and 1t is not
surprising that the land tortoise is used
MS food wherever he is found Lizards
of all sorts and sizes are eaten in Asia,
Africa, America and Australia, and
what is the crocodile or alligator but a
lizard Of larger growth?
In Egypt n along the great rivers
of other parts of Africa, South America
and southern Asia the ~ungainly reptile
is devoured with relish. Europeans do
not take kindly to it as an article Of
diet, although they try it out of curios-
ity.
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 obliga-
tons. The Chinaman utilizes snakes
for s~ustenance n 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 Buck
land, whose geological enthusiasm knew
no bounds, assured us that beacon
s~trictor tasted like veal.
Frogs a Staple.
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
a close second. Who knows that but
some day the British will further ce-
ment the entente cordiale by adopting
the Gallo taste for the hopping am
phibian?
Snails, Shiny and repulsive, are looked
upon with loathing by he average
Briton. But in trance, Switzerland, the
south of Europe n the United States
any sentimental repugnance is not al
lowed to weigh against the %undoubted
nutritive qualities of the land mollusk.
The snails are collected by women and
children and are then placed in en-
closures to feed upon selected vege-
table food to impart to them the
requisite flavor.
John the Baptist lived on locusts and
wild honey, and innumerable people
regale themselves on the same food to-
day. African races are the chief eaters
of ~locusts, a diet that shortens the spar
of life to two score years. When famine
stalks the land the Arab grinds to
powder the dried insects he has stored.
and with -four bakes ii into bread.
Honey is in cosmopolitan favor. but the
Cingalese eat bees to add fragrance to
the breath.
In Brazil. the East Indies, Mexico
and among the ndian of North Amer
Tea, ants are largely consumed. as are
the larger termites of Africa, n nat
urally the Chinese do not miss their
turn with the insect.
There Is no accounting for tastes and
consequently one is conteit with BADLY
stating that In New Caledonia particu-
larly large spiders. and in Brazil eigh-
teen inch long centipedes. are greatly
enjoyed. Wher 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
silkworms in Madagascar and Ceylon.