Bivalve Molluscs (Lamellibranchia) are more important as a source of food than shell-fish of other kinds. Besides Oysters, Cockles, and Mussels there are the esteemed "Clams" of North America (species of Mya, Mactra, and Venus), and Razor-Shells (Solen) are also appreciated. The last are known in Scotland as "Spout-Fish", on account of the jet of water they squirt out when disturbed. On the Ayrshire coast the "hunting of the Spout-Fish" is pursued with great zeal at certain times of the year, a pointed instrument being thrust between the valves. These molluscs burrow obliquely in the sand with great rapidity, and are easily alarmed by the approach of footsteps, so there is considerable room for skill in their capture. Other bivalves commonly used for food are Piddocks (Pholas), Date - Shells (Lithodomus), and Ark-Shells (Arca). But the list might be extended almost indefinitely. : Among Primitive Molluscs (Amphineura) Cooke (in The Cambridge Natural History) says of the Mail-Shells (Chiton):"West Indian negroes eat the large chitons which are abundant on their rocky coasts, cutting off and swallowing raw the fleshy foot, which they call 'beef', and rejecting the viscera ". INSECTS (INSECTA).—Bees (Apis) as a source of honey are most prominent here, but they will be noticed in a later section. Next to these, Locusts are perhaps of greatest importance, but Ants and Termites are also eaten. The Malays appreciate Cicadas or Tree-Bugs, and by rhythmic hand-clappings are able to lure them down from among the branches. Some of the Scale-Insects (Coccida) secrete sweet or waxy substances, and regarding one such species Sharp says (in The Cambridge Natural History):-"The manna mentioned in the book of Exodus is pretty certainly the honey-dew secreted by Coccus (now Gossyparia) mannifera, which lives on Tamarix in many places of the Mediterranean basin. This substance is still called by the Arabs 'man', and is used as food; in its natural state it is a substance very like honey; it is doubtless excreted by the Coccus, and is not produced directly by the Tamarix as some have supposed." Livingstone mentions a peculiar “kungu cake" eaten by the natives on the shores of Lake Nyassa, and which is made by compressing the bodies of vast numbers of the aquatic larvæ of gnats and related insects. CENTIPEDES AND MILLIPEDES (MYRIAPODA).-These are men tioned here merely as a matter of curious interest. Sinclair remarks as follows (in The Cambridge Natural History):is hard to believe that any human being could under any circumstances eat Centipedes, which have been described by one naturalist as 'a disgusting tribe loving the darkness'. Nevertheless, Humboldt informs us that he has seen the Indian children drag out of the earth Centipedes eighteen inches long and more than half an inch wide and devour them. This, I believe, is the only account of human beings using the Myriapoda as food, if we except the accounts of the religious fanatics among the African Arabs, who are said to devour Centipedes alive; though this is not a case of eating for pleasure, for the Scolopendras are devoured in company with leaves of the prickly pear, broken glass, &c., as a test of the unpleasant things that may be eaten under the influence of religious excitement." CRUSTACEANS (CRUSTACEA).—This group is of obvious importance as a source of food, as the mention of Crab, Lobster, Prawn, and Shrimp is enough to show. A few details will be given in a later section, and it is enough to say here that a very large number of species are eaten in one country or another. One would scarcely expect Barnacles to be used in this way (though they are often mentioned in old accounts of shipwrecks), but certain species are exposed for sale in Spain and South America. BRISTLE-WORMS (CHETOPODA). The only marine Annelid used to any great extent as human food is the Palolo Worm (Palolo viridis) in the Samoa and Fiji islands. The chief facts regarding it are thus summarized by Benham (in The Cambridge Natural History):-"The worm . . . . lives in fissures among 6 corals on the reefs, at a depth of about two fathoms. At certain days in October and November they leave the reefs and swim to the shores of the above islands, probably to spawn; and this occurs on two days in each of the above months-the day on which the moon is in her last quarter, and the day before. The natives, who call the worm Mbalolo', give the name Mbalolo laili' (little) to October, and Mbalolo levu' (large) to November, thereby indicating the relative abundance of the worms in these two months. The natives eat them either alive or baked, tied up in leaves; and they are esteemed so great a delicacy that presents of them are sent by the chiefs who live on shore to those living inland." Another worm, of which the habits are much the same, abounds on the shores of Mota Island, in the New Hebrides, and is also eaten. HEDGEHOG-SKINNED ANIMALS (ECHINODERMATA).-The "roe" of Sea-Urchins (Echinoidea) was prized as a luxury by the ancient Romans, and is still eaten on the shores of the Adriatic, as well as in other parts of the world. The "sea-eggs mentioned in the quotation from Darwin's account of the Fuegians given at the beginning of this chapter (p. 211) are animals of the kind. The collection of sea-urchins (chiefly Hipponoe esculenta) for food is an important but decaying industry in Barbados, amounting in value to £4000 per annum. The dried bodies of Sea-Cucumbers (Holothuroidea) constitute what is commonly known to commerce as Bêche-de-Mer or Trepang, an important article of food to the Chinese. The most extensive fishery is on the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, the annual return of which is worth some £23,000 to Queensland. These animals abound in the West Indies, of which the marine resources are not sufficiently developed. One desideratum is a properly-organized trepang fishery. ZOOPHYTES (CELENTERATA).—This group of animals is unimportant as a source of food, but Sea-Anemones (cul de mulet) are eaten in France, Sicily, and along the shores of the Adriatic. DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS The domestication of certain animals by man has been one of the most important factors in the evolution of civilization, enabling the prehistoric huntsmen and shore-dwellers to pass into the more civilized pastoral stage, from which gradual transition is easy to the still more civilized agricultural stage. Although the Dog can claim to be the earliest domesticated animal, our greatest debt is obviously due to various Hoofed Mammals (Ungulata), which include all the larger inhabitants. of our farmyards, the Camels of the Old World, and the Llamas of the New, while Elephants belong to an order which is not distantly related. The most important domesticated birds belong to two orders, (1) Ducks and Geese (Anseres), and (2) GameBirds (Gallina), including, more particularly, Fowls (descended from an Indian stock) and Turkeys (natives of North America). |