Coordination 



SCIENTIFIC SIDE-LIGHTS 



132 



ery is well expressed in the following, where 

 he is speaking of his experiments in feeding 

 the Bavarian army and the poor of Munich. 

 He says : " I constantly found that the rich- 

 ness or quality of a soup depended more 

 upon the proper choice of the ingredients, 

 and a proper management of the fire in the 

 combination of these ingredients, than upon 

 the quantity of solid nutritious matter em- 

 ployed; much more upon the art and skill 

 of the cook than upon the sums laid out in 

 the market." WILLIAMS Chemistry of Cook- 

 ery, ch. 1, p. 5. (A., 1900.) 



654. COOKING, EARLY DEVICES 



FOR Boiling by Hot Stones No Soiled Meats 

 in Homeric Feasts Found in Northmen's 

 Traditions. In many parts of the world, 

 among tribes who do not know how to make 

 an earthen pot, there is found the curious 

 art of stone-boiling, which is a sort of wet 

 baking. The Assiniboins of North America 

 have their name, which means " stone-boil- 

 ers," from their old practise of digging a 

 hole in the ground, lining it with a piece of 

 the slaughtered animal's hide, and then put- 

 ting in the meat with water, and hot stones 

 to boil it. Tribes of the far West actually 

 managed by means of red-hot stones to boil 

 salmon and acorn-porridge in their baskets 

 made of close-plaited roots of the spruce-fir. 

 The process of stone-boiling has lasted on 

 even in Europe where found convenient for 

 heating water in wooden tubs. Linnaeus on 

 his northern tour found the Bothland people 

 brewing beer in this way, and to this day 

 the " rude Carinthian boor " drinks such 

 " stone-beer," as it is called. As soon as the 

 cooks anywhere are provided with earthen 

 pots or metal kettles, boiling over the fire 

 becomes easy. Yet it is curious to notice the 

 absence of boiled meats from the feasts of 

 the Homeric heroes, where there is so much 

 about the joints stuck on spits to roast, and 

 the vengeful Odysseus rolling to and fro on 

 his bed is compared to an eager roaster turn- 

 ing a stuffed paunch before the blazing fire. 

 Among the old Northmen it was otherwise, 

 for it is told in the Edda how the warriors 

 feast every night in Valhalla on the sodden 

 flesh of the boar Ssehrimner, who is daily 

 boiled in the huge kettle, and comes to life 

 again ready for the morrow's hunt. TYLOR 

 Anthropology, ch. 11, p. 266. (A., 1899.) 



655. COOKING, SCIENTIFIC VALUE 

 OF Destroys Most Bacteria. Injurious 

 micro-organisms in foods are, fortunately 

 for the consumers, usually killed by cooking. 

 Vast numbers are, as far as we know, of no 

 harm whatever. Alarming reports of the 

 large numbers of bacteria which are con- 

 tained in this or that food are generally as 

 irrelevant as they are incorrect. Bacteria, 

 as we have seen, are ubiquitous. In food we 

 have abundance of the chief thing necessary 

 to their life and multiplication favorable 

 nutriment. Hence we should expect to find 

 in uncooked or stale food an ample supply 



of saprophytic bacteria. There was much 

 wholesome truth in the assertions made 

 some two years ago by the late Professor 

 Kanthack, to the effect that good food as 

 well as bad frequently contained large num- 

 bers of bacteria, and often of the same 

 species. It is well that we should become 

 familiarized with this idea, for its accuracy 

 cannot be doubted, and its usefulness at the 

 present time may not be without its benefi- 

 cial effect. NEWMAN Bacteria, ch. 5, p. 178. 

 (G. P. P., 1899.) 



656. COOKING THE INVENTION OF 

 WOMAN There are in many lands plants 

 which in the natural state are poisonous or 

 extremely acrid or pungent. The women of 

 these lands have all discovered independ- 

 ently that boiling or heating drives off the 

 poisonous or disagreeable element. The In- 

 dians of southern California gather the 

 leaves and stems of several cruciferous 

 plants, throw them into hot water, then 

 rinse them out in cold water five or six 

 times, then dry them and use them as 

 boiled cabbage. This washing removes the 

 bitter taste and certain substances which 

 are likely to produce nausea and diarrhea. 

 The removal of poisonous matter from 

 tapioca by means of hot water is the dis- 

 covery of savage women. MASON Woman's 

 Share in Primitive Culture, ch. 2, p. 24. 

 (A., 1894.) 



657. COOPERATION AMONG 

 BRUTES, UNSUPPORTED STORIES OF 



Thresher and Swordfish Pilot-fish and 

 Shark Blind Instinct of Remora. Dr. 

 Giinther, however, denies that the thresher 

 ever attacks whales; and Professor Moseley 

 writes me that he considers the alleged cases 

 " very unlikely," as the hide of the whale is 

 so tough, and the blubber so thick, that the 

 animal would not " feel or care about the 

 thresher, which, by falling on the whale 

 from a height of say 20 feet, might nearly 

 commit suicide without the whale knowing 

 anything about it." Moreover, as regards the 

 pilot-fish, Professor Moseley writes me that 

 from actual observation he can fully corrobo- 

 rate the opinion which I have expressed. 

 " The pilot-fish," he says, " cannot possibly 

 hold on the shark, as it has no means of 

 attachment " ; " it is the remora ( which 

 habitually clings to the bodies of sharks) 

 that has been mistaken for the pilot-fish. 

 The latter is a most unfortunate fish to run 

 as exhibiting animal intelligence. It con- 

 stantly mistakes a ship for a big shark, 

 swimming for weeks near the water-surface, 

 just a foot in front of the cutwater. Now, 

 if it swam just behind the stern it would get 

 plenty of food, whereas in front of the bow 

 it gets nothing whatever. Nevertheless, it 

 stays on at what in a shark is of course the 

 right place, ready to be at the beast's mouth 

 directly food is found." [1886.] ROMANES 

 Animal Intelligence, ch. 8, p. 253. (A., 

 1899.) 



