PURE AMD IMPURE POODS. 



3" 



parts of the country. Extended series of 

 investigations have been prosecuted in 

 Maine, Connecticut, New York, New 

 Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont, 

 Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Indiana, 

 Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Cali- 

 fornia, and New Mexico. The Department 

 of Agriculture has cooperated in New York 

 City with the Association for the Improve- 

 ment of the Condition of the Poor and the 

 Industrial Christian Alliance in studying 

 the food and nutrition of the people of the 

 congested districts. Similar work has been 

 done with Hull House in Chicago. The 

 Polytechnic Institute and the Tuskegee In- 

 stitute in Alabama and the Hampton In- 

 stitute in Virginia have made investigations 

 in their regions, particularly among the 

 negroes in the Black Belt of the South. In 

 other localities experiment stations, col- 

 leges, and universities make investigations 

 among people of various classes and condi- 

 tions of life, including not only dietary 

 studies but other phases of the subject of 

 the nutrition of man. 



EDIBLE BIRDS' NESTS 



FRANK H. SWEET. 



We have all heard of bird's nest soup, 

 that peculiar dish so esteemed by the 

 Chinese. Few of us, however,, have any 

 idea of the kind of nest used, where it is 

 to be found or how it is collected. 



The edible bird's nest is not a mass of 

 sticks, straws, and feathers, plastered to- 

 gether with clay or mud, such as the robin's 

 nest, for instance. The method of their 

 manufacture is unique. The swallow that 

 builds the nest is provided with glands that 

 secrete a peculiar sticky substance which 

 hardens quickly on exposure to the air. 

 No other bird is so provided, though among 

 insects, as most of us know, the spider is 

 so equipped. 



These swallows inhabit the cliffs in the 

 Sunda islands, Ceylon, Borneo, and Java, 

 where the birds live in large caves over- 

 looking the sea, and in colonies of countless 

 thousands build their homes and rear their 

 young. 



When about to build the nest the bird's 

 glands, which are situated under the 

 tongue, become greatly swollen. The swal- 

 low presses its tongue against the rock that 

 is to serve as the foundation of the nest, 

 and then retreats a short distance, in so 

 doing drawing a glutinous thread out of its 

 mouth. This is woven into a bed of web, 

 by dexterous movements of the bird's head, 

 and the operations of spinning and weaving 

 are continued until the nest is of the re- 

 quired size and shape.. The completed nest 

 is about %. the size oi a hen's egg. 



The best quality of nests are white and 

 as translucent as porcelain, and are much 

 prized by oriental epicures. Another spe- 

 cies is of a brown color, but is mixed with 

 bits of sticks, feathers, and other foreign 

 substances, which render it almost useless 

 as an article of diet. Probably either spe- 

 cies would not. prove especially attractive 

 to an American palate. 



The natives who gather the nests often 

 live in the larger caves with the swallows. 

 As the openings to these caves are often 

 60 feet high and between 40 and 50 feet 

 wide, it can be seen that the men do not 

 frighten the birds in the least. The birds 

 do not even seem much disturbed at losing 

 their nests, but keep on building year after 

 year in the most contented fashion. 



In gathering the nests 2 men work to- 

 gether. One carries a torch, for the inner 

 recesses of the cave are often totally dark ; 

 the other is equipped with a long handled, 

 4-pronged spear. By means of a light 

 bamboo ladder they ascend to the roof of 

 the cave. The man with the spear selects 

 the nest he wants, spears it, and with a 

 slight twist disengages it from the rock, 

 whole. He passes it down to his compan- 

 ion, who puts it in a basket at his waist. 

 The nests of the best quality are tied with 

 strips of bamboo into bundles, weighing 

 about a pound and a half each, and contain- 

 ing about 40 nests. These bundles are 

 worth about $9 each. The poorer grade of 

 nests are nicely strung together, but are 

 not nearly so valuable. 



About $2,500 worth of these nests are 

 gathered every year, 3 crops being 

 taken during the season. Though this oc- 

 cupation of nest gathering has flourished 

 for over 7 generations, or considerably over 

 100 years, so numerous are the swallows, 

 and so rapidly do they breed, that there 

 seems not the slightest diminution in the 

 number of birds inhabiting these caves. 



POMELO OR ORAPE FRUIT. 



Pomelo, or grape fruit, as it is more gen- 

 erally known in the Eastern market, is a 

 member of the citrus group, and is closely 

 related to the orange and lemon. It was 

 introduced into the United States many 

 years ago, but has assumed importance 

 only recently. In a recent journal Dr. B. 

 B. Bolton described the fruit in effect as 

 follows : 



The pomelo is a native of China and 

 Japan, but is now cultivated in California, 

 Florida, the West Indies, Hawaii and 

 other tropical countries. There are in Cali- 

 fornia some 7,000 trees, a third of which 

 are already bearing, and a much larger 

 number in Florida. The fruit is smooth, 

 round, and of a pale yellow color. It is 



