August, '16] HOWARD: LACHNOSTERNA LARV^ AS FOOD 391 



the tough chitinous skin. Dr. Chittenden discovered a disagreeable 

 taste which none of the rest of us noticed. He tried only one, and pos- 

 sibly that one may. have been a little spoiled. The broth was drunk 

 by Mr. O'Leary and the WTiter, and w-e both agreed that it was not 

 only perfectly unobjectionable but really appetizing. 



This experiment was made May 17. 



A week later Mr. Davis sent in from Lafayette, Indiana, a bottle 

 containing more than 100 grubs preserved in rendered butter, that is, 

 the butter was heated until the water was gone and the casein of the 

 milk had settled and was then strained. The grubs were dressed as 

 previoush' and were then brought to the boiling point in the rendered 

 butter and bottled. With his colleagues, Messrs. Fenton and Mason, 

 Mr. Davis made a stew which he called delicious, as follows : the dressed 

 grubs were heated in a small amount of water, after which milk was 

 added and the broth seasoned with a small piece of butter, salt and 

 pepper. They prepared the grubs as they thought oyster stew was 

 prepared, and of course ate the grubs as well as the broth. Mr. Mason 

 thought that it tasted very much like boiled crab meat and not much 

 different from lobster. Mr. Fenton thought that it tasted much like 

 lobster, but had not eaten crab and so was not in a position to judge 

 whether they were more like the latter. Mr. Davis had never eaten 

 either fresh crab or lobster, but thought that they had a decided seafood 

 taste. All thought it " agreeable" and " were sorry when it was all ' 

 gone." (i 



The bottled grubs were sent to Washington, and in Dr. Langworthj^'s 

 laboratory were made into a soup as follows: A quart of milk, a pint 

 of water, three tablespoons of flour and salt and pepper for seasoning. 

 One tablespoon of the fat in which the grubs had been preserved was 

 browned with one tablespoon of flour. The grubs and the rest of the 

 fat were put into the water and added to the heated milk along with 

 the flour and seasonings. 



This white grub stew was very appetizing. It was eaten by Messrs. 

 E. B. O'Leary, C. E. Wolfe, C. H. Popenoe, Joseph Jacobs, A. B. 

 Duckett, C. H. T. Townsend, C. S. Menagh, W. R. Walton, W. B. 

 Wood, and the writer. 



Most of us noticed no especially distinctive flavor. Dr. Townsend 

 and the writer, who probably ate more of the grubs than the others, 

 thought that we discovered a slightly acid flavor which is difficult to 

 describe. 



Analysis of the grubs will be made in the Office of Home Economics 

 in the Department in order to ascertain their exact constituents from a 

 food point of view, and it is hoped also to make digestion experiments 

 to determine the proportion of the material that can be digested and 



