OF WASHINGTON, VOLUME XVIII, 1916 89 



mentioned as pertaining to the Orthoptera. A leg of Gryllus 

 boiled in water prevents retention of urine by man and animal. 32 

 Cockroaches bruised and mixed with sugar cure ulcers and cancers 

 and kill worms in children; the ashes of burned roaches are an 

 effective physic 33 and the inner viscera of roaches boiled in oil 

 cure earache. 34 Cockroaches are made into tea and formed into 

 pills for various ailments of man and powdered and extracted in 

 alcohol they are a remedy for dropsy/ 5 Oil of forficulids rubbed 

 on the temples, wrists and nostrils strengthens the nerves; ashes 

 of house crickets cure weak sight and enlarged tonsils and tritu- 

 rated bodies of migratory locusts, with proof spirits, cure haemor- 

 rhoids and quench thirst. 56 There are many more such records of 

 the remarkable medicinal properties of Orthoptera but no more 

 need be repeated here. 



As an article of food the Orthoptera are of real importance and 

 the general use of insects as food for man is not only a matter of 

 ancient history but of the present times as well. Dr. Howard 

 has but recently urged experiments along this line" and man of 

 many climes annually consume considerable quantities of insects 

 and insect products. Were the present paper one dealing with 

 insects in general this one topic of their use as food would be quite 

 enough for one evening's discussion. Confined to the Orthoptera 

 it is limited mostly to a consideration of the edibility of locusts, 

 or grasshoppers. Other families of Orthoptera however enter 

 somewhat into the diet of man and even the unsavory cockroach, 

 when properly salted, is said to have an agreeable flavor for those 

 fond of highly flavored dishes. 28 Personally, however, I have 

 formed no liking for roaches as food, in spite of the fact that on a 

 trip through the west I had them served to me alive in straw- 

 berries, a la carte with fried fish, and baked in biscuits/ 9 



At least one genus of Phasmidae serve as food for man, the 

 natives of Woodlark Island eating a species of Karabidion* 

 Gryllidae, too, are eaten, field crickets being an article of diet in 

 Jamaica when that island was first discovered, 41 and the natives 

 of Africa eat quantities of Brachytrupes, which they dig from their 

 burrows and prepare for the pot by removing the legs and wings. 42 

 The Orthoptera most extensively used as food are, as stated above, 



32 Sanchez, Datos para la Mcdica Mexicana (1893). 



33 Sloane, Hist. Jamaica, vol. ii, p. 204 (1707-25). 



34 Cowan's Curious Facts, p. 82 (1865). 



35 Bogomolow, St. Petcrsb. Mod. Wochenschr. (1884). 

 3 "' Ealand, Insects and Man, p. 217 (1915). 



"Monthly Letter, Bur. Ent. U. S. Dept. Agric., No. 18, p. 1 (1915). 



38 Lugger, 3 Repts. Minn. Exp. Sta., p. 36 (1898). 



39 Ent. News, vol. xv, p. 63 '1904). 



40 Montrouzier, Fauna Woodlark, p. 82 (1855). 



41 Sloane, Hist, of Jamaica, vol. ii, p. 204 Q707-25). 

 Wellman. Ent. News, vol. xix, p. 29 (1908). 



