A STRANGE FOOD.

North Otago Times, 2 December 1911, Page 4 (Supplement)

A STRANGE FOOD.

B EOPLB . WHO'; INCLUDE EARTH '■££•« IN'THEIR:'DIET. a •;•

No collector of" national foods includes'earth or clay among them,' ■ yet this';' is', a foyourftfl dish- with' ' many* hundreds of thousands of. peo-' 'ple'up/and down' the earth. Even< 'in Europe' they:are not difficult' to' 'find. In ono district ; oi;Sweden, it is called Degenfors, the poor folk ( make use pi, a.white clay, usually found ajnoog'. the roots of the trees .there, bj mixing It with rye flour,' and then baking ibis- abnormal pro- ;. vender in a very slow, oven.' They ■ also use • the - stuff, for, Boup. The jquarrymen. of. Kiflhauscn have- for '.years beyond the, memory, of man, "buttered" their slices ■ of- black bread, with fine white clay; and. in Siberia I thei inhabitants along,, the banks of I the Amoor partake of a similar clay, I j which they call "rock;butter,"' On' • analysis this strangcUood is found to/ be composed foe the. most part of ' <■ finely pulvarfscd flint and felspar,.! lime; clay, oxide- of iron, and a resi-j .' duum of somo unknown organic matter which yields ammonia and an oil.' - . . | Earth eaters. are frequently to be found in tho East, The' sea-going DyakS'always have a supply of yellow ochre on their expeditions as a reserve in case the stores should run out, and in the Malay Peninsula a white ole'aglnouß clay is used for the samo purpose. ,In.Java little cakes! of yellowish fatty earth are sold .in the market, and women-buy and eat i them to preserve their slender figures. ' The Airios are enthusiastic earth eaters, In tho, north end of their, island is a valley whero alone the material can bo dug, but it is carried •to all parts. They boll it with the root of the wild Illy, and y, hen a certain, portion of the clay has sottled, The remainder is poured off and is eaten like cream,

The potters of Scinde also Include earth in their dietary, Among their weekly expenses an ! allowance is always made for the amount of "cbaniah" which they and their wives and faraillcß consume' This "cbaniah" is a white oily earth also much used for glazing the finer grades of their pottery. . Pieces of a friable stone, '•'lapis ollarls," form a stabla dish with the aborigines ol New Caledonia. The .explorers, Olonuet and Brischet, when travelling in New Caledonia; could get no other food for several days, but found no inconvenience arising through eating five ounces daily of this strange food. The Ottamoc Indians of South America live exclusively on fish and earth. During the seasons ot flood when there 1b no fishing, they are dependent wholly on their clay for food, and manage very comfortably with it. They find it so agreeable that during the rest of the year they eat a ball of it lor desert, Evidently clay agrees with them, for the Ottanlocs aro amongst the tallest strongest and best nourished aborigines of South America.