WILD ANIMALS AS A SOURCE OF FOOD 215 
Bwalve Molluscs (Lamellibranchia) 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 Mya, Mactra, and Venus), and Razor-Shells 
(Soden) 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 “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 
(Lzthodomus), and Ark-Shells (Arca). But the list might be 
extended almost indefinitely. 
Among Primitive Molluscs (Amphineura) Cooke (in The 
Cambridge Natural History) says of the Mail-Shells (Chzton):— 
‘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 (INsEcTa).—Bees (AZzs) 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 (Cocczde) secrete sweet or waxy substances, and 
regarding one such species Sharp says (in Zhe Cambridge 
Natural Fitstory):—‘‘ The manna mentioned in the book of 
Exodus is pretty certainly the honey-dew secreted by Coccus 
(now Gossyparta) 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 Zamarizx 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 larve of gnats and related insects. 
CeNTIPEDES AND Mitiipepes (Myriapopa).—These are men- 
