534 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



teries of the cuisine, he made a soup which was really delicious, and 

 was so pronounced by dozens of prominent St. Louisians who tried it. 

 Shaw, in his 'Travels in Barbary ' (Oxford, England, 1738), in which 

 two pages are devoted to a description of the ravages of locusts, 

 mentions that they are sprinkled with salt and fried, when they taste 

 like crawfish ; and Mr. Bonnet declared that this locust-soup reminded 

 him of nothing so much as crawfish bisque, which is so highly es- 

 teemed by connoisseurs. He also declared that he would gladly have 

 it on his bill of fare every day if he could only get the insects. 



" His method of preparation was to boil on a brisk fire, having pre- 

 viously seasoned them with salt, pepper, and grated nutmeg, the whole 

 being occasionally stirred. When cooked, they are pounded in a mor- 

 tar with bread fried brown, or puree of rice. They are then replaced 

 in the saucepan and thickened to a broth by placing on the warm part 

 of the stove, but not allowed to boil. For use, the broth is passed 

 through a strainer and a few croutons are added. I carried a small 

 box of fried ones to Europe, where they were tasted by numerous per- 

 sons, including members of the London Entomological Society and of 

 the Societe Entomologique de France. Without exception, they were 

 pronounced far better than was expected, and those fried in their own 

 oil, with a little salt, remained good and fresh for several months ; 

 others fried in butter became slightly rancid, a fault of the butter. 

 Mr. C. Home, F. Z. S., writing to ' Science Gossip,' says : ' In the 

 evening I had asked two gentlemen to dinner, and gave them a curry 

 and croquette of locusts. They passed for Cabool shrimps, which in 

 flavor they very much resembled ; but the cook having inadvertently 

 left a hind-leg in a croquette, they were found out, to the infinite dis- 

 gust of one of the party and the amusement of the other.' . . . 



" Locusts will hardly come into general use for food, except where 

 they are annually abundant ; and our Western farmers, who occasion- 

 ally suffer from them, will not easily be brought to a due appreciation 

 of them for this purpose. Prejudiced against them, fighting to over- 

 come them, killing them in large quantities, until the stench from their 

 decomposing bodies becomes at times most offensive, they find little 

 that is attractive in the pests. 



" For these reasons, as long as other food is attainable, the locust 

 will be apt to be rejected by most persons. Yet the fact remains that 

 they do make very good food. When freshly caught in large quanti- 

 ties, the mangled mass presents a not very appetizing appearance, 

 and emits a strong and not overpleasant odor ; but, rinsed and scald- 

 ed, they turn a brownish red, look much more inviting, and give no 

 disagreeable smell." 



That locusts have been used as food from remote antiquity is well 

 attested by historical writers. As stated before, they are classed 

 among the "clean meats" in Leviticus (xi, 22), and are referred to 

 in other parts of the Bible as human food. One of the Nineveh 



