THE OSTRICH. 67 



exclaims, that they are not merely to be regarded as 

 delicacies, but are in fact " ipsissimse delicise;" an 

 expressive but untranslatable phrase, which we can 

 only render, in piebald English, the ne plus ultra of 

 good eating. It is by no means improbable that, in 

 the latter instance, the rarity of the dish conferred upon 

 it a higher relish than its own intrinsic flavour would 

 have warranted ; as was undoubtedly the case when 

 the dissolute Roman Emperor, in Rome's degenerate 

 days, ordered the brains of six hundred Ostriches to 

 be served up to his guests at a single supper. 



The flesh of these birds was among the unclean 

 meats forbidden to the Jews by the Mosaical law. It 

 seems, however, to have been in especial favour with the 

 Romans, for we read of its being frequently introduced 

 at their tables. We are even told by Vopiscus that 

 the pseudo-Emperor Firmus, eqvially celebrated for his 

 feats at the anvil and at the trencher, devoured, in his 

 own imperial person, an entire Ostrich at one sitting. 

 It is to be hoped that the bird was not particularly 

 old ; for it is allowed on all hands, at least in the 

 present day, that when it has reached a certain age it 

 is both a tough and an unsavoury morsel. The young 

 are nevertheless said to be eatable ; and we may well 

 imagine that the haunch of such a bird would furnish 

 a tolerably substantial dish. The Arabs, it may be 

 added, have adopted the Jewish prohibition, and regard 

 the Ostrich as an unclean animal : but some of the 

 barbarous tribes of the interior of Africa, like the 

 Struthiophagi of old, still feed upon its flesh whenever 

 they are fortunate enough to procure it. 



The Ostriches in the Society's Collection would be 

 truly a noble pair, were it not for an unnatural curve 

 in the neck of the male, in consequence, it is said, of 

 its having formerly swallowed something more than 



