[LETTER X.]
BENEFITS DERIVED FROM INSECTS.
DIRECT BENEFITS.
My last letter was devoted to the indirect advantages which we derive from insects; in the present I shall enumerate those of a more direct nature for which we are indebted to them, beginning with their use as the food of man, in which respect they are of more importance than you may have conceived.
One class of animals which, till very lately, have been regarded as belonging to the entomological world, I mean the Crustacea, consisting principally of the genus Cancer of Linné, are universally reckoned amongst our greatest dainties; and they who would turn with disgust from a locust or the grub of a beetle, feel no symptoms of nausea when a lobster, crab, or shrimp is set before them. The fact is, that habit has reconciled us to the eating of these last, which, viewed in themselves with their threatening claws and many feet, are really more disgusting than the former. Had the habit been reversed, we should have viewed the former with appetite and the latter with abhorrence, as do the Arabs, "who are as much astonished at our eating crabs, lobsters, and oysters, as we are at their eating locusts[541]." That this would have been the case is clear, at least as far as regards the former position, from the practice in other parts of the world, both in ancient and modern times, to which, begging you to lay aside your English prejudices, I shall now call your attention; first observing by the way, that the insects used as food, generally speaking, live on vegetable substances, and are consequently much more select and cleanly in their diet than the swine or the duck, which form a favourite part of ours.
Many larvæ[542] that belong to the order Coleoptera are eaten in different parts of the world. The grub of the palm-weevil (Cordylia[543] Palmarum), which is the size of the thumb, has been long in request in both the Indies. Ælian speaks of an Indian king, who, for a dessert, instead of fruit set before his Grecian guests a roasted worm taken from a plant, probably the larva of this insect, which he says the Indians esteem very delicious—a character that was confirmed by some of the Greeks who tasted it[544]. Madam Merian has figured one of these larvæ, and says that the natives of Surinam roast and eat them as something very exquisite[545]. A friend of mine, who has resided a good deal in the West Indies, where the palm-grub is called Grugru, informs me that the late Sir John La Forey, who was somewhat of an epicure, was extremely fond of it when properly cooked.
The larvæ also of the larger species of the capricorn tribe (Cerambyx, L. Longicornes, Latr.) are accounted very great delicacies in many countries; and the Cossus of Pliny, which he tells us the Roman epicures fattened with flour[546], most probably belonged to this tribe. Linné indeed, following the opinion of Ray[547], supposes the caterpillar of the great goat-moth, the anatomy of which has been so wonderfully traced by the eye and pencil of the incomparable Lyonet, to be the Cossus. But there seems a strong reason against this opinion; for Linné's Cossus lives most commonly in the willow, Pliny's in the oak; and the former is a very disagreeable, ugly and fetid larva, not very likely to attract the Roman epicures. Probably they were the larvæ of Prionus coriarius, which I have myself extracted from the oak, or of one of its congeners[548]. The grub of P. damicornis, which is of the thickness of a man's finger, is eaten at Surinam, in America, and in the West Indies, both by whites and blacks, who empty, wash, and roast them, and find them delicious[549]. Mr. Hall informs me, that in Jamaica this grub is called Macauco, and is in request at the principal tables. A similar insect is dressed at Mauritius under the name of Moutac, which the whites as well as Negroes eat greedily[550]. The larva of P. cervicornis is, according to Linné, held in equal estimation, and that of Acanthocinus Tribulus when roasted forms an article of food in Africa[551]. It is probable that all the species of this genus might be safely eaten, as well as many other grubs of Coleoptera; and although I do not feel disposed to recommend with Reaumur[552], that the larvæ of Oryctes nasicornis should be sought for "dans les couches de fumier," yet I think with Dr. Darwin[553], that those of the cockchafer which feed upon the roots of grass, or the perfect insects themselves, which, if we may judge from the eagerness with which cats, and turkeys and other birds devour them, are no despicable bonne bouche, might be added to our entremets. This would be one means of keeping down the numbers of these occasionally destructive animals.
In the next order of insects, the Orthoptera, the gryllus, or locust tribe, as they are the greatest destroyers of food, so as some recompense they furnish a considerable supply of it to numerous nations. They are recorded to have done this from the most remote antiquity, some Ethiopian tribes having been named from this circumstance Acridophagi (locust-eaters)[554]. Pliny also relates that they were in high esteem as meat amongst the Parthians[555]. Hasselquist, in reply to some inquiries which he made on this subject with respect to the Arabs, was informed that at Mecca, when there was a scarcity of corn, as a substitute for flour they would grind locusts in their hand-mills, or pound them in stone mortars; that they mixed this flour with water into a dough, and made their cakes of it, which they baked like their other bread. He adds, that it is not unusual for them to eat locusts when there is no famine; but then they boil them first a good while in water, and afterwards stew them with butter into a kind of fricassee of no bad flavour[556]. Leo Africanus, as quoted by Bochart, gives a similar account[557]. Sparrman informs us that the Hottentots are highly rejoiced at the arrival of the locusts in their country, although they destroy all its verdure, eating them in such quantities as to get visibly fatter than before, and making of their eggs a brown or coffee-coloured soup. He also relates a curious notion which they have with respect to the origin of the locusts—that they proceed from the good will of a great master-conjuror a long way to the north, who, having removed the stone from the mouth of a certain deep pit, lets loose these animals to be food for them[558]. This is not unlike the account given by the author of the Apocalypse, of the origin of the symbolical locusts, which are said to ascend upon an angel's opening the pit of the abyss[559]. Clenard, in his letters quoted by Bochart, says that they bring waggon-loads of locusts to Fez, as a usual article of food[560]. Major Moor informs me, that when the cloud of locusts noticed in a former letter visited the Mahratta country, the common people salted and ate them. This was anciently the custom with many of the African nations, some of whom also smoked them[561]. They appear even to have been an article of food offered for sale in the markets of Greece[562]; and on a subject so well known, to quote no other writers, Jackson observes that, when he was in Barbary in 1799, dishes of locusts were generally served up at the principal tables and esteemed a great delicacy. They are preferred by the Moors to pigeons; and a person may eat a platefull of two or three hundred without feeling any ill effects. They usually boil them in water half an hour, (having thrown away the head, wings and legs,) then sprinkle them with salt and pepper, and fry them, adding a little vinegar[563].—From this string of authorities you will readily see how idle was the controversy concerning the locusts which formed part of the sustenance of John the Baptist, agreeing with Hasselquist[564], that they could be nothing but the animal locust, so common a food in the East; and how apt even learned men are to perplex a plain question, from ignorance of the customs of other countries.