ORTHOPTERA AFFECTING MAN CAUDELL. 511 



believe, is a matter based almost entirely on pristine beliefs and 

 popular fallacies. A common European katydid is given the com- 

 mon name " wart biter " from the belief prevalent in Sweden that 

 its bite removes warts. 1 Burr remarks that it is possible that the 

 wound caused by the insect, together with the action of formic acid 

 often exuded from the jaws of angry Orthoptera, and a goodly 

 amount of faith on the part of the wart-stricken individual might, 

 indeed, cause these mysterious growths to disappear. Ancient lore is 

 replete with all kinds of cures attributed to various insects. The fol- 

 lowing recorded instances may be mentioned as pertaining to the 

 Orthoptera. A leg of Gryllus boiled in water prevents retention of 

 urine by man and animal. 2 Cockroaches bruised and mixed with 

 sugar cure ulcers and cancers and kill worms in children; the ashes 

 of burned roaches are an effective physic 3 and the inner viscera of 

 roaches boiled in oil cure earache. 4 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 f or- 

 ficulids rubbed on the temples, wrists, and nostrils strengthens the 

 nerves ; ashes of house crickets cure weak sight and enlarged tonsils 

 and triturated bodies of migratory locusts, with proof spirits, cure 

 haemorrhoids and quench thirst. 6 There are man}' 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. Doctor Howard 

 has but recently urged experiments along this line, 7 and man of 

 many climes annually consumes considerable quantities of insects 

 and insect products. Were the present paper one dealing with in- 

 sects 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 some- 

 what 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. 8 Personally, however, I have formed no lik- 

 ing for roaches as food, in spite of the fact that on a trip through 

 the West I had them served to me alive in strawberries, a la carte 

 with fried fish, and baked in biscuits. 9 



*Proc. S. Lond. Ent. Soc, 18C\ p. (11) (1900). 

 2 Sanchez* Datos para la Medica Mexicana (1893). 

 "Sloane, Hist. Jamaica, vol. 2, p. 204 (1707-25). 

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

 6 Bogomolow, St. Petersb. Med. Wochenschr. (1884). 

 e Ealand, Insects and Man, p. 217 (1915). 



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



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



9 Ent. News, vol. 15, p. 63 (1904). 



