130 Rev. F. W. Hope's Observations respecting 



writers in attesting the well-authenticated fact of locusts eaten as 

 food, I shall merely insert in tables at the end of this paper the 

 names of different nations and people mentioned as feeding on 

 such diet, and cite the several authors who have recorded them. 



Before investigating the genera and species which have severally 

 ministered to the wants of the wild African and Australian bush- 

 man, or to the luxurious Roman or more modern Epicurean, it 

 may here be stated, that almost all the insects alluded to live on 

 vegetable matter ; some on the outer bark, a greater portion on 

 the saccharine alburnum, the pith and inner coatings of trees, 

 while a great number of others thrive on leaves, twigs, and the 

 delicate fibrous roots buried beneath the soil. It appears then 

 from the above brief statement, that insects live on cleanly diet, 

 and consequently afford us more wholesome food than some of 

 the animals that are usually served at our tables. It is not my 

 intention here to recommend insectal food to nations living in 

 northern climates, although I am aware that thei-e are naturalists 

 who have done so ; the supply in summer accidentally might be 

 abundant, but in winter certainly always must be scanty and pre- 

 carious. I see no reason, however, why in the warm and well 

 wooded regions of the world they should not be eaten, as the 

 supply there is generally abundant. The New Hollander, or 

 even the European settler in those parts, may derive much benefit 

 by adopting the larvae of insects as food, for the very worms 

 regaled on, if left to themselves, in time might multiply so as to 

 endanger the crops of future years, entailing ruin on the grower, 

 and perhaps famine on the settlement. In case of scarcity in our 

 own country, and certainly in milder regions of the world where 

 famine has been known to spread over the land, insectal food 

 may be adopted. It is probable that want and hunger may have 

 been the original cause of introducing to notice several of the 

 insects which have been taken as food, although I am unable at 

 present to adduce any particular instance to substantiate the fact. 

 Insectal food, which I here recommend in case of necessity, will 

 certainly not be so revolting to man as the animal gelatine of 

 pulverised old bones, or even as insipid as sawdust bread, recom- 

 mended by the French in similar emergencies. 



To proceed, however, it is time to investigate the species of 

 insects which have been eaten at different times. I shall com- 

 mence with the Coleoptera, and run through the remaining orders, 

 explaining, as far as is possible, the genera and species to which 

 they may belong. 



