WILD ANIMALS AS A SOURCE OF FOOD 215 



Bivalve Molluscs (Lamellibranchid) are more important as a 

 source of food than shell-fish of other kinds. Besides Oysters, 

 Cockles, and Mussels there are the esteemed " Clams" of North 

 America (species of My a, Mactra, and Venus], and Razor- Shells 

 (Solen) are also appreciated. The last are known in Scotland as 

 " Spout-Fish ", on account of the jet of water they squirt out 

 when disturbed. On the Ayrshire coast the <4 hunting of the 

 Spout- Fish " is pursued with great zeal at certain times of the 

 year, a pointed instrument being thrust between the valves. 

 These molluscs burrow obliquely in the sand with great rapidity, 

 and are easily alarmed by the approach of footsteps, so there 

 is considerable room for skill in their capture. Other bivalves 

 commonly used for food are Piddocks (Pholas), Date -Shells 

 (Lithodomus\ and Ark- Shells (Area). But the list might be 

 extended almost indefinitely. 



Among Primitive Molluscs (Amphineurd) Cooke (in The 

 Cambridge Natural History) says of the Mail-Shells (Chiton]'. 

 " West Indian negroes eat the large chitons which are abundant 

 on their rocky coasts, cutting off and swallowing raw the fleshy 

 foot, which they call 'beef, and rejecting the viscera", 



INSECTS (!NSECTA). Bees (Apis] as a source of honey are 

 most prominent here, but they will be noticed in a later section. 

 Next to these, Locusts are perhaps of greatest importance, but 

 Ants and Termites are also eaten. The Malays appreciate 

 Cicadas or Tree- Bugs, and by rhythmic hand-clappings are able 

 to lure them down from among the branches. Some of the 

 Scale- Insects (Coccida) secrete sweet or waxy substances, and 

 regarding one such species Sharp says (in The Cambridge 

 Natural History)'. " The manna mentioned in the book of 

 Exodus is pretty certainly the honey-dew secreted by Coccus 

 (now Gossyparid] mannifera, which lives on Tamarix in many 

 places of the Mediterranean basin. This substance is still called 

 by the Arabs * man ', and is used as food ; in its natural state 

 it is a substance very like honey; it is doubtless excreted by 

 the Coccus, and is not produced directly by the Tamarix as 

 some have supposed." Livingstone mentions a peculiar " kungu 

 cake " eaten by the natives on the shores of Lake Nyassa, and 

 which is made by compressing the bodies of vast numbers of the 

 aquatic larvae of gnats and related insects. 



CENTIPEDES AND MILLIPEDES (MYRIAPODA). These are men- 



