6 INTRODUCTION 



The lion, tiger, jaguar, and even the evil-smelling skunk, 

 are eaten by man in the regions inhabited by these animals. 

 The dog does not approve of the rank and offensive flesh of 

 the hyaena ; but low type Arabs are less particular. We 

 esteem the dog, the friend of man, for what may aptly 

 be termed his personal qualities ; but John Chinaman 

 has encouraged the animal to adopt a vegetable diet the 

 better to fatten him up for use as domestic meat ; and 

 black cat on a Chinese menu is always an expensive 

 item. 



That the flesh of all birds is more or less palatable is 

 more easily understood. In the South of Europe thrushes, 

 larks, and even redbreasts are sent to market in immense 

 quantities ; in Madeira ' fried canaries ' are a common 

 dish. For sentimental reasons we should object to dine on 

 these ' sweet birds that breathe the spirit of song, and 

 surround heaven's gate in melodious throng.' For other 

 reasons we should decline the flesh of a vulture that had 

 picked up its living around the Towers of Silence, outside 

 Bombay, where the Parsees expose their dead for food for 

 these most repulsive specimens of the feathered world. Of 

 all our animal foods we pay special attention to the freshness 

 of fish ; but the Gold Coast negro prefers his shark-flesh 

 when it is well advanced towards putrefaction. Even 

 reptiles and insects minister to man's appetite. They may 

 be hideous in shape and movement, loathsome and veno- 

 mous to touch, but man will not forgo his claims to utilise 

 them. Crocodiles and snakes, frogs and worms, and even 

 centipedes form the basis of meals in different regions. 

 These are but a few examples to show how man exercises 

 his dominion over the animal world in the satisfaction of 

 his omni-carnivorous appetite. 



In addition to flesh and milk (butter and cheese), the 

 inferior creation supplies man with skins, fur, wool, hair, 

 bristles, horns, bone, ivory, oils, &c., out of which he 

 fashions innumerable articles to satisfy his desire for 

 warmth and rest and other aids to the comforts of life. 



Birds yield eggs for food and feathers for warmth and 

 adornment. Fishes are chiefly valuable as a food product, 

 but they also yield oil ; and in the case of some of the larger 



