PREPABATION OF FOOD. 449 



nor to the exceptional conditions of war, for instances of the 

 same thing. The nose-biting of the Hanley dog-fighters of 

 Staffordshire, and of their representatives in other English 

 counties or cities, shows how little civilisation has yet done 

 to humanise certain heast or brute men in our very midst. 



On the other hand, there are certain animals that, 

 though they do not cook food that is, prepare it directly 

 or indirectly by means of fire nevertheless subject it to 

 some rough sort of preparation prior to using it. Thus the 

 American procyon washes its food ; the elephant frees from 

 insects and dust the branches it purposes to eat; the 

 sacred monkeys of India destroy the fangs of venomous 

 snakes before eating them (Houzeau) ; the common seal 

 holds its food (e.g. a ballan wrasse a fish) in its fore paws, 

 carefully denuding it of its skin before devouring it (Mcln- 

 tosh). 



Again, there are many animals that make free use of 

 foods cooked by man, while a few assist him in the art of 

 cooking, including the tendance of ovens, the turning of 

 spits, and the regulation of fires. Thus a Borneo orang, 

 according to Buffon, ate meat and fish, boiled and roasted. 



Among the animals that imitate man in the use of boiled, 



O ' 



broiled, baked, or roasted meats or other foods, and of hot 

 drinks, are the dog, lori, chimpanzee, and bear. Sometimes 

 they acquire a partiality or preference for cooked foods, and 

 they use them even when hot from the oven or fire, or while 

 in the oven, on the fire, or ' on the boil.' 



Thus the bear has been known to snatch and eat directly 

 from a fire meat that was, or was being, cooked, distribut- 

 ing portions to her cubs (Houzeau). Some of the anthropoid 

 apes, moreover, use the same prepared food or drink in the 

 same way as man. Thus the siamang waits for the cooling 

 of his tea or coffee more probably a lesson taught by expe- 

 rience than the simple result of imitation. The orang also 

 uses tea, sugar, and milk in proper proportions, adds the 

 milk and sugar herself, and drinks the tea as her master 

 does, allowing it to cool sufficiently (Cassell). 



Young salmon are systematically fed on fried liver or 

 steak, powdered, at the Stormontfield breeding ponds, on 



VOL. I. G G 



