General Considerations. 



225 



declared, that this locust soup reminded him of nothing so 

 much as crawfish bisque, which is so highly esteemed by 

 connoisseurs. He also declared that he would gladly have 

 it on his bill of fare every day if he could get the insects. 

 His method of preparation was to boil on a brisk fire, 

 having previously seasoned them with salt, pepper and 

 grated nutmeg, the whole being occasionally stirred. 

 When cooked they are pounded in a mortar with bread 

 fried brown, or a puree of rice. They are then replaced 

 in the saucepan and thickened to a broth by placing on a 

 warm part of the stove, but not allowed to boil. For 

 use, the broth is passed through a strainer and a few 

 croutons are added. I carried a small box of fried ones 

 w T ith me to Europe, and they were tasted by numerous 

 persons, includ'ng the members of the London Entomo- 

 logical Society and of the .Societe Entomologique de 

 -France. Without exception they were pronounced far 

 better than was expected, and those fried in their own oil 

 "with a little salt remained good and fresh for several 

 months ; others fried in butter became slightly rancid — a 

 fault of the butter. Mr. C. Home, F. Z. S., writing to 

 Science Gossip about swarms of locusts which visited parts 

 of India in 1863, says : "In the evening I had asked two 

 gentlemen to dinner and gave them a curry and croquette 

 of locusts. They passed for Cabul shrimps, which in flavor 

 they very much resembled, but the cook having inadvert- 

 ently left a hind leg in a croquette, they were found out, to 

 the infinite disgust of one of the party and the amusement 

 of the other." 



This testimony as to the past and present use of locusts 

 as human food might be multiplied almost indefinitely, and 

 I hope I have said enough to prove that the nature of that 

 food is by no means disagreeable. In short, not to waste 

 time in further details, I can safely assert, from my own 

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