THE GRASSHOPPER 349 



dians, who are fond of caribou which in turn is thoroughly infected with 

 these grubs. The grubs are eaten raw and the children consider them a 

 great delicacy. 



To this list may be added moths and caterpillars, eaten by both Pai 

 Ute Indians and the Australian Bushmen, while bugs, beetles and the 

 eggs of these insects complete the list. The Manna of the Old Testa- 

 ment is considered by entomologists to be the secretion, somewhat, like 

 honey, from an insect. These manna insects, now called Gossyparia 

 mannifers ( ), "infested the smaller branches 



of Tamarix gallica ( ) in large numbers, sucked up 



sap in quantities, and exuded manna in the form of a sugary secretion 

 which, in the cool of the evening, fell to the ground in solid form, but, 

 after sunrise, melted and percolated the soil." 



Conditions of the past have been changed since man has learned 

 to till the soil ; for, insects now receive other food, their conditions of 

 life have changed and comparisons of ancient times when men lived 

 under different conditions from the present are often likely to lead one 

 astray. This is particularly noticeable among agricultural peoples who 

 seldom use insects as food. In famines, anything could be relished and 

 it was no wonder that such peoples often turned to a diet not commonly 

 used, and then after an acquired taste had been brought about (just as 

 it is known that practically no one likes olives the first time he eats 

 them, but can acquire a very considerable taste for them later) the chil- 

 dren who had been fed upon such diet actually relished it. No better 

 proof of this could be found than the fact that pigeons and rabbits never 

 normally eat meat, but, if they are fed meat alone from birth, they will 

 die rather than eat a normal pigeon's or rabbit's food when they have 

 become fully grown. 



In addition to being used as food, insects have formed a great source 

 from which various oils and other medicinal substances have been ab- 

 stracted from time immemorial. All historical literature is filled with 

 references to this use of insects. 



Because all of us need a physician at some time or other, it is of 

 great interest and value to know as much about this subject as possible. 



Over against this beneficial use of insects may be placed the great 

 devastations in our own country by the periodical locusts which sweep 

 every grain field bare before them, and other crop-injuring pests such 

 as boll weevils, which injure thousands of dollars worth of cotton an- 

 nually, while almost every grain has some sort of insect which uses such 

 grain as its food. 



As carriers of developing eggs or various immature forms of para- 

 sites, insects are now known to do great injury to man as well as the 

 animal world at large. The classic example is that of the anopheles mos- 

 quito, carrying malaria, as also the tse-tse fly, already referred to as the 

 carrier of the germ of sleeping sickness. 



