645 



the crocodile, when they feel any gastric ob- 

 structions ; but the missionary whom we found 

 among them was little disposed to confirm this 

 assertion. It may be asked, why the mania of 

 eating earth is much more rare in the frigid and 

 temperate zones, than in the torrid ; and why in 

 Europe it is found only among women in a state 

 of pregnancy, and sickly children. This differ- 

 ence between hot and temperate climates arises 

 perhaps only from the inert state of the functions 

 of the stomach, caused by strong cutaneous 

 perspiration. It has been supposed to be ob- 

 served, that the inordinate taste for eating earth 

 augments among the African slaves, and becomes 

 more pernicious, when they are restricted to a 

 regimen purely vegetable, and deprived of spiri- 

 tuous liquors*. If the latter render the prac- 

 tice of eating earth less injurious, we may al- 

 most felicitate the Otomacs on their decided 

 taste for intoxication. 



The Negroes on the coast of Guinea delight 

 in eating a yellowish earth, which they call 

 caouac. The slaves who are taken to America 

 try to procure for themselves the same enjoy- 

 ment ; but it is constantly detrimental to their 

 health. They say, " that the earth of the West 

 Indies is not so easy of digestion as that of their 

 country." Thibaut de Chanvalon, in his Voy- 



* Moreau de Jonnes Obs. on the Dirt-eaters in the West 

 Indies (Bullet, de la Soc. MSd., Mai, 18 16). 



