stant frays-suffering from a cutaneous disorder by high feedingand altogether a disgusting spectacle. There is no sight in the world more revolting than to see a young and gracefully-formed native girl stepping out of the carcase of a putrid whale' (Gray's Explorations in North-West and Western Australia). The Australians also mash up bones and suck out the fat contained in them. Like other savages, they are excessively fond of fatty substances."

3. Boiled 5. Boiled

To illustrate a predominatingly animal diet we may take the following menu of an Esquimaux feast, given by comparatively civilized individuals:-"A factor being invited to a great entertainment with several topping Greenlanders counted the following dishes:-1. Dried herrings. 2. Dried seal's flesh. ditto. 4. Half-raw and rotten ditto, called mikiak. willocks [sea-birds]. 6. A piece of a half-rotten whale's tail (this was the dainty dish or haunch of venison to which the guests were properly invited). 7. Dried salmon. 8. Dried reindeer venison. 9. A dessert of crowberries mixed with the chyle out of the maw of a reindeer. 10. The same, enriched with train oil." (Crantz-History of Greenland.) added that blood is a favourite Esquimaux drink.

It may be

Even among civilized nations fish and molluscs are important articles of food, and it is interesting to know that this was also the case during the Stone Age. Along the shores of Denmark and many other countries, including Britain, are to be found, more or less abundantly, shell-mounds or "kitchen-middens" (Danish kjökkenmöddings), the sites of many a prehistoric meal. In Danish mounds the shells of oysters, cockles, mussels, and periwinkles are by far the most abundant, and with them are associated the bones of fishes (herring, dab, eel, &c.), birds, (capercailzie, duck, swan, goose, &c.), and mammals (deer, wild boar, &c). Remains of domesticated animals are entirely absent, except of the dog, and many of the bones have been gnawed by this half-wild attendant at the feasts. Darwin's account (in A Naturalist's Voyage) of some of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego furnishes a modern parallel to the kind of life led by the prehistoric men of the shell-mounds, except that the latter were probably in better case. He says: "The inhabitants, living chiefly upon shell-fish, are obliged constantly to change their place of residence; but they return at intervals to

the same spots, as is evident from the piles of old shells, which must often amount to many tons in weight. These poor wretches were stunted in their growth, their hideous faces daubed with white paint, their skins filthy and greasy, their hair entangled, their voices discordant, and their gestures violent. Viewing such men, one can hardly make one's self believe that they are fellow-creatures, and inhabitants of the same world. It is a common subject of conjecture what pleasure in life some of the lower animals can enjoy. How much more reasonably the same question may be asked with respect to these barbarians! At night, five or six human beings, naked, and scarcely protected from the wind and rain of this tempestuous climate, sleep on the wet ground, coiled up like animals. Whenever it is low water, winter or summer, night or day, they must rise to pick shell-fish from the rocks; and the women either dive to collect sea-eggs, or sit patiently in their canoes and, with a baited hair-line without any hook, jerk out little fish. If a seal is killed, or the floating carcase of a putrid whale discovered, it is a feast; and such miserable food is assisted by a few tasteless berries and fungi."

WILD ANIMALS AS A SOURCE OF FOOD

MAMMALS (MAMMALIA).—The large majority of the members of this class, from the Spiny Ant-Eater (Echidna) and the DuckBill (Ornithorhynchus) of Australia up to Man, are, or have been, used as food. As to the two first, it will be seen from the following remarks made by Semon (in In the Australian Bush) in regard to Queensland, that even uncivilized races have marked preferences in the matter of diet, when not under stress of famine:-" My blacks were hardly able to furnish me with any information as to the customs of this animal, i.e. the DuckBill, which they called 'Jungjumore', for they despise its flesh, and consequently never hunt it. In fact, it has an ancient and fish-like smell', even after it has been skinned. The blacks showed utter contempt for 'jungjumore', and could hardly be brought to help me in digging up their burrows or to trouble themselves in any way about this, to their minds, useless and inferior creature. The taste for Echidna is quite the reverse, since their regard for it amounts almost to adoration, and they

consider its flesh a first-rate dainty, superior even to beef, which is the greatest compliment they can pay to any food. According to Bennett, the blacks near the Wollondilly and Yas rivers in New South Wales have a different taste, and are very partial to Ornithorhynchus." The Pouched Mammals (Marsupialia) of Australia have naturally been largely eaten by the natives, and the Kangaroo, at any rate, is decidedly palatable. Semon says of it, in the work just quoted: "The muscular tail of the kangaroo furnishes a delicious soup, and its flesh is not to be despised ".

Hoofed Mammals (Ungulata), especially Ruminants, are more important than any others as a source of food, and this is the primary reason why they have been so largely domesticated. Elephants (Proboscidea) have been in times past of great importance to the African larder. Sir Samuel Baker remarks (in Wild Beasts and their Ways):-"There is no animal that is more persistently pursued than the elephant, as it affords food in wholesale supply to the Africans, who consume its flesh, while the hide is valuable for shields; the fat when boiled is highly esteemed by the natives, and the ivory is of extreme value. No portion of the animal is wasted in Africa, although in Ceylon the elephant is considered worthless, and is allowed to rot uselessly upon the ground where it fell to die." Of Gnawing Mammals (Rodentia), Hares and Rabbits have always been most esteemed, while Insect-eating Mammals (Insectivora) are of no particular importance, though gipsies appear to relish the Hedgehog (Erinaceus). The related Bats (Chiroptera) are not in much favour, but Fruit-bats (Pteropus) are eaten by the Malays.

Flesh-eating Mammals (Carnivora) inhabiting the land are less useful as a source of food than most other Mammals, though the omnivorous Bears, and to some extent Dogs, must be excepted. It would appear, in some cases at least, to be a matter of prejudice. Wallace found Jaguar steaks good eating, and this suggested to him the following remarks:-"It appears evident to me that the common idea of the food of an animal determining the quality of its meat is quite erroneous. Domestic poultry and pigs are the most unclean animals in their food, yet their flesh is highly esteemed, while field-rats and squirrels, which eat only vegetable food, are in general disrepute." There can be no doubt that the Cat is good eating, and, under numerous

aliases, it is said to figure in the dietary of various European nations. Simmonds (in Animal Products) thus speaks of the culinary value of the Lion:-"The flesh of the lion is eaten by the Hottentots; and a tribe of Arabs between Tunis and Algeria, according to Blumenbach, live almost entirely upon it when they can get it. When a lion has been killed and the skin removed, the flesh is divided, and the mothers take each a small piece of the animal's heart and give it their male children to eat in order to render them strong and courageous. They take away as much as possible of the mane, in order to make armlets of it, which are supposed to have the same effect. It would seem from the journal of the Marquess of Hastings, that this superstition as to eating lion's flesh is as strong in India. On the death of a lion it is stated: Anxious interest was made with our servants for a bit of the flesh, though it should be the size of a hazel-nut. Every native in the camp, male or female, who was fortunate enough to get a morsel, dressed it and ate it. They have a thorough conviction that the eating a piece of lion's flesh strengthens the constitution incalculably, and is a preservative against many particular distempers. This superstition does not apply to tiger's flesh, though the whiskers and claws of that animal are considered as very potent for bewitching people.' But the flesh of lions. has also been eaten with gusto by Europeans, for Madame Bedichon in her work on Algeria states, that at Oran a lion was killed which three days before had eaten a man, and the prefect gave a grand dinner, the principal dish being the lion, which the French gentlemen assembled ate with the greatest relish. More recently still . . . a magnificent quarter of lion, shot in the neighbourhood of Philippeville, Algeria, by M. Constant Cheret, was sent to the Restaurant Magny, Paris, and served up to a party of nineteen guests, who enjoyed with gusto 'Estouffade de lion à la Méridionale' and 'Coeur de lion à la Castellane." Among aquatic Carnivores the Seals are valuable as a source of food to Esquimaux and other tribes inhabiting cold latitudes.

Of other aquatic Mammals used as food may be mentioned the Manatees (Manatus) and Dugongs (Halicore), which constitute the order of Sea-Cows (Sirenia); while reference has already been made (p. 209) to Whales (Cetacea) in this connection.

BIRDS (AVES).-Birds are eaten even more indiscriminately than Mammals, though birds of prey and fish-eating forms are avoided. The eggs of some wild birds, e.g. Plovers, are esteemed a delicacy. Edible birds'- nests have been mentioned elsewhere (see vol. iii, p. 462).

REPTILES (REPTILIA). The high reputation of the Green Turtle (Chelone mydas) is familiar, and other members of the same order (Chelonia) are also eaten in various parts of the world, besides which the eggs of such creatures may also figure as an article of diet.

Some of the larger Lizards (Lacertilia) are regularly used as articles of food, especially the Iguanas (Iguanida) of America and the Water-Lizards (Varanida) of South and South-East Asia.

To a less extent Crocodiles and Alligators (Crocodilia) and Snakes (Ophidia) serve as a source of food.

AMPHIBIANS (AMPHIBIA). The only members of the group of importance in this connection are some of the Frogs, which are eaten in India and Europe. In the latter case it is the Edible Frog (Rana esculenta) that falls a victim.

FISHES (PISCES).-Fishes are, and always have been, of great importance as a source of food. A very large number are regularly eaten, and it will be most convenient to deal with these in a special chapter.

MOLLUSCS (MOLLUSCS). Many kinds of shell-fish are used as food, and some of the more important, e.g. the Oyster, will be dealt with separately.

Cuttle-fishes, Squids, and Octopods (Cephalopoda) are eaten in various parts of the world, particularly by the Chinese and Japanese, while one species (Eledone) is a common article of diet in South Europe, nor is it the only one.

Of Snails and Slugs (Gastropoda) utilized as food by Europeans many examples might be given. The commonest marine. form thus employed is probably the Periwinkle (Littorina), and after this come Whelk (Buccinum), Limpet (Patella), and the Ormer or Sea-Ear (Haliotis). But there are many more, and in other parts of the world the list is much larger. The marine slug known as the Sea-Hare (Aplysia) is eaten in the South Sea Islands.

Land Snails (species of Helix) are largely used on the Continent, and to some extent in Great Britain.