S52 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



themselves, ate the smaller varieties skilfully dressed 

 But "we must remember that antiquity also was not 

 always faithful to the first laws of beauty and hu- 

 manity. Were not their costliest fishes fattened upon 

 the bodies of slaves thrown into the ponds for that 

 horrible purpose ? In our day the locusts are rarely 

 seen, but at long intervals, and permanently only in the 

 Orient. There the Arabs resort to them in years of 

 famine ; they dry and grind them to powder, and bake 

 them with flour into cakes, or roast them in butter. 

 Legs and wings are always rejected, the bodies are often 

 preserved in vinegar, and are considered a rare delicacy. 

 In Germany, where, in 1748, they committed incredible 

 ravages, the eggs at least were eaten and highly 

 prized.* 



That the old Romans were partial to a certain large 

 wood-boring larva as an article of food, is certain ; we 

 know, too, that it bore the name of Cossus ; but beyond 

 that we are left in darkness, except that the animal is said 

 by Pliny to live on trees, to change into an insect with 

 long antennae, and to have the power of emitting a 

 rather shrill sound — " Sonum edunt parvuli stridoris " 

 (" Hist. Nat.," book xvii. chap. 24). The larva, whatever 

 it was, was held in the highest estimation by the gourmets 

 of Rome as a singular delicacy, and was fattened for the 

 table on meal. 



Naturalists are much divided on the knotty question 

 of the true Cossus of the ancients. Some are inclined 

 to give the distinction to the stag-beetle, whose larva is 

 sufficiently large to make a juicy mouthful ; others con- 

 tend for some specieg of rhinoceros beetle {Oryctes) ; 

 while some are in favour of the exotic Rhynchophorus. 

 Kirby and Spence are in favour of some large species of 

 the " Capricorn tribe " ; and of these the French ento- 

 mologist Mulsant has fixed upon the larva of the hand- 

 some beetle called Ceramhyx (or Samniatochoerus) heros. 

 In many parts of Europe " heros " is counted among the 



»" All the Tear Round." 



