The Ergates; the Cossus 



Roast or boiled? You wouldn't catch me 

 tackling that stuff." 



And, vastly surprised that there should be 

 people capable of making a meal off anything 

 so loathly, they turn aside from the Sea- 

 urchin. Even so do my Cat and my Dogs. 

 With them as with ourselves, exceptional 

 food needs an apprenticeship. 



To the little that he has to say about the 

 Cossus, Pliny adds: "Etiam farina saginati, 

 hi quoque altiles sunt," which means that the 

 worms were fattened with meal to improve 

 their flavour. The recipe startled me at 

 first, all the more so as the old naturalist is 

 much given to this system of fattening. He 

 tells us of one Fulvius Hirpinus who invented 

 the art of rearing Snails, so highly esteemed 

 by the gormandizers of the day. The herd 

 destined to be fattened were placed in a park 

 surrounded by water to prevent escape and 

 furnished with earthenware vases to serve as 

 shelters. Fed on a paste of flour and syrupy 

 wine, the Snails became enormous. Not- 

 withstanding all my respect for the venerable 

 naturalist, I cannot believe that molluscs 

 thrive so remarkably when put on a diet of 

 flour and syrupy wine. These are childish 

 exaggerations, which were inevitable at first, 

 181 



