Cephalopods^ etc., as Food. 



121 



Picals. 



Kiukiang 

 Shanghai 

 Ningpo 



869 

 1564 

 1745 



4198 



— equal to 5222 cwt. 



What is commonly termed cuttle-fish bone is frequently 

 found floating in the Mediterranean Sea, and in much 

 greater quantity on the shores of Australia. It is of an 

 oblong oval shape, from 3 to 10 inches long, and its breadth 

 is about one-third of its length ; hard upon its upper surface 

 and edges, but soft on its lower side, both surfaces being 

 convex. Its specific gravity is about '935. Its composition, 

 though calcareous, is quite different from bone, being about 

 83 per cent, of carbonate of calcium, with some magnesia 

 and common salt, and but little animal matter. The 

 structure is quite peculiar ; a fresh fracture, when examined, 

 shows the layers of the calcium salt, supported by pillars 

 of the same material, arranged in regular rows, likened by 

 Wood the naturalist to an imitation Giant's Causeway. It 

 furnishes cage-birds with tiny grindstones, whereon to whet 

 their bills, and levigated and dried it forms the basis of 

 some dentrifices. 



When the ovaries of some of the species of sea-eggs 

 or sea-urchins are fully developed — the Echinus edulis, for 

 instance — they are collected as food. The late Sir Robert 

 Schomburgk, in his " History of Barbados," mentions that 

 they are eaten there. 



The Echinus albus is eaten by the Chilians and others. 

 It is of a globular form, and about three inches in diameter ; 

 the shell and spines are white, but the interior substance is 

 yellowish and of an excellent taste. 



Palolo. — Another curious food product obtained in the 

 Pacific, which is esteemed as highly as whitebait in Eng- 



