Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1942-06-24
You Can Eat
'PusseI' or
'PursIane'
II Depends on Spelling,
Also Appetite 4
By wEsTBROOK PEGLER

as fuel and rubber shortage cuts
the cruising radius of the adj
diets, reference was made to the
creeping conquest of the lovely
greens by a variety OF weeds
and herbs. including, as spelled
it, one called "pussel."
Miss Corinne johnson, asso-
ciate editor of Readers Digest,
sensed a challenge in this word
and has written to demand my
authority or an apology.
She says that any vegetation
(which isn't flower, vegetable.
grain or grass" or. as take the
liberty TO add, tree, is just a
weed TO her and further that
she has consulted dictionaries
--and-found .purslaaer -.p,.s---
sley" and pussy" but no
pussel.
7 HESITATE to stimulate this
L discussion because / once in
advertently asked question
about the sex life of the wis
TARA of which / possessed
barren female, and the cor
respondence thus provoked was
the greatest that / ever received
on any one subject, but, in a
quiet. unprovocative way, /
should like TO say that spell
"pussel' strictly by ear.
That is the way l have always
heard il pronounced, except
when il was called pigweed, and r
although l do believe PURSUANCE
Is correct, il has suited soundN
TO me.
Pussel or, If you insist on re-
Anement at the expense of inof-
fensive ease. "purslane, is
creeping weed that grows just
about everywhere in the United
States, except on rocks and in
the deserts. and il is edible, al
though not good TO eat unless
your taste runs 10 spinach,
dandelion green's and broccoli.
in which case you might like IT,
IN OUR part OF the country
L Italian mothers and their
children who go along The roads
with paper bags and pairing
knives gat herring dandelion
green's also gather this weed for
their tables. and we have had ii
in our house a few times.
1t is eaten in the South also
where. as Huey Long used TO tell
us, turnip tops and mustard
grass are capable of lovely deli
cacy if cooked adroitly in a GER
tain kind OF pot along with a
nugget of hog-side.
/ will not take the responsible
ity of describing il. lest readers
of these dispatches gather by
mistake messes Of poison ivy or
marihuana, which also are com
mon nearly everywhere in our
land, with unfortunate results.
ONE winter in Florida I got
" my hands on a history OF
the state and in a fascinating
chapter on old Fort Jefferson, in
the Dry Tortugas which lives TO
the south and west of Key West
in q godforsaken stretch OF
beautiful but deadly blue water
so shallow in spots that il barely
covers the oatmeal bottom, !
found a tribute 10 both pusse
and Doctor Mudd, one of thu
most interesting minor characS
tiers in our history. who was sent
10 prison in the fort after the
Civil War as an accessory after
The fact TO the assassination OF
President Lincoln.
II is very doubtful that Doc
tor Mudd deserved any punish
ment for his offense. consisting
of giving medical aid according
TO his sacred obligation, but.
anyway, he was there long
time in a horrible place of con-
finement surrounded by a moa,
policed by sharks and was doc
tor and nurse 10 many of his
fellow prisoners who fell sick OF
many ailments, including scurvy,
and not a few of whom died.
THE guards seem not 10 have
Il been much better off than
the prisoners, so they yielded 10
Doctor Mudds plea that he be
allowed TO go ashore in manner
of speaking. along the terrible
keys and prospect for any edible
green's that he might find TO
combat the scurvy.
The greens he found were
pussel or purslane or pigweed
and by this addition 10 the diet
Of the wretched survivors OF the
fort he managed to save some
lives and stop the spread OF the
disease.
This part of the narration re-
called the famine in Miss Pearl
Bucks The Good Earth" in
which even a blade of grass or
a few kernels of corn were a
feast and filled me with CON-
placent feeling that whatever
tragedy might befall our land
through mans own meanness
that, anyway. never could happen
here because pussel and dande-
lions and doubtless many othep<
green's and nuts are with us al