AOTMAL PRODUCTS 139 



largest of all rodents), the peccary (a small species 

 of pig), the tapir, the armadUlo, the great ant-eater, 

 and guinea-pigs. 



According to the writings of Mr. Simmonds, the 

 bill of fare of the Italian people is a somewhat 

 strange one, for the author states : — ' They eat 

 foxes in Italy, where they are sold dear, and thought 

 fit for the table of a cardinal,' and that ' the flesh 

 of the porcupine is said to be used ... as a 

 stimulant,' the latter dish being prepared by first 

 of aU boDing it, and then roasting it. Robins 

 serve also as food in that country, as well as the 

 fat-dormouse {Myoxus glis). In Germany, the 

 paws, tongues and hams of bears are regarded as a 

 dehcacy ; while the flesh of the white or polar bear 

 is eaten by the Esquimaux. 



One would hardly expect rats and mice to figure 

 upon a bUl of fare, but the authority previously 

 quoted tells us that : — ' The mouse, to the Esquimaux 

 epicures, is a real bonne bouche, and it they can catch 

 half-a-dozen at a time, they run a piece of horn or 

 twig through them in the same manner as the London 

 poulterers prepare larks for the table, and without 

 stopping to skin them . . . boil them over a fire.' 

 Mice and rats are eaten also by the Australian 

 aborigines, and the Chinese prepare a soup from 

 the flesh of the latter which is stated to vie with 

 that made from ox-tail. In olden days, dog flesh 

 was served at the table of the Greeks and Romans, 

 and even at the present time it is a popular dish 

 with the Chinese people, who feed the animals 

 entirely upon vegetables. The AustraUan black 



