194 KEW GARDENS 



the locusts that fed St. John, and that still feed 

 men and cattle in some parts of the world. The 

 other day I had a shock of mild surprise in seeing 

 dried locusts for sale in a back street shop- 

 window, from which I had supposed them long 

 vanished ; but in my period of unpampered 

 stomachs and scrimp pocket-money they had a 

 great sale among schoolboys, as giving for a 

 minimum of expenditure a maximum of sweet, 

 stiff chewing, with this additional recommenda- 

 tion, that the seeds, scrunched under one's mis- 

 chievous heel, made a squeaking noise subversive 

 of discipline a trick, let us trust, never tried on 

 Mr. Barlow. He will here find a cue to explain 

 how some fruits that are to us mere luxuries 

 more or less digestible, such as chestnuts and 

 dates, make the staple food of certain regions, 

 not only raw but dried, ground into flour and 

 baked into bread ; the stones of dates also being 

 crushed as fodder for North African cattle. 

 Then here we have the cassava, which in its 

 native state is deadly poison, but can be prepared 

 to feed wholesomely many tribes of Africans 

 and South Americans, and to supply us with our 

 toothsome tapioca. Here indeed are poisonous 

 preparations enough to kill all Kew, including 



