Food from the WildReview by: Edgar T. WherryThe Scientific Monthly, Vol. 49, No. 3 (Sep., 1939), p. 278Published by: American Association for the Advancement of ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/17063 .

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278 THE SCIENTIFIC MONTHLY

author would seriously advocate in the interests of efficiency and ecouomy the adoption of a uniform diet desigued only to provide the necessary nourishment or that clothing or dwellings should be standardized for similar reasons. It would be easier to secure conformity in these things than in some of those he advocates. The history of life oni the earth, and of the advancemenit of civili- zation as well, proves the fact that prog- ress is gradually achieved by enormous diversity with many failures, as well as a few successes, and that uniformities lead to stagnation and often to extinc- tion. There is no evidence that man has yet developed mentally to the point at which he can safely avoid diversity and abandon the methods of almost reckless experimientation. I am confident the the author would agree with these senti- ments, though many of the things he advocates seem to imply the opposite.

F. R. M.

FOOD FROM THE WILD'

FOR over thirty years Professor Meds- ger, a gifted naturalist and inspiring teacher of nature study, has been col- lecting data on the wild plants of North America which yield food for man; and now that he has retired from active teach- ing, he has fortunately been able to pub- lish the results of his studies in the ex- cellent book before us. The work is di- vided into sections dealing suecessively with fruits, nuts, seeds and seedpods, salads, roots and tubers, beverage and favoring plants, sugars and gums and mushrooms. Under each, the species are arranged in the order followed in stand- ard works on botany, the international system of nomenclature being followed. Tinder the individual species there are given full descriptions of the plant, data as to its geographic range and notes on the edible parts and how to use them, based in numerous instances on the au-

' Edible Wild Plants. By 0. P. Medsger. Illustrated. xv t 323 pp. $3.50. Macmillan Compaiiy.

thor's ownl wide experienees. The text is liberally interspersed with bits of poetry, quotations from early writers on the foods of the Indians and similar mate- rial. At the end there are given useful tabulations of the species ineluded, ar- ranged in four geographic categories-- northeastern, southern, midland and western. Finally, there is a general in- dex nearly nineteen pages in length.

Many of the food plants ineluded are of course familiar to every one who hikes in the woods, but some of them are rarely if ever recognized as edible. Skunk cabbage, when boiled thoroughly, with two or three changes of water, and then seasoned, is recommended as having a pleasing taste. Common milkweed, when well cooked, is described as much like spinach. Chickweed, "when properly prepared, makes a splendid potherb. I have tasted its edible qualities, and can recommend the plant."

That there are elements of danger in eating some wild plants is clearly recog- nized. The author points out that it is Hot desirable to eat many Canada yew berries at one time, and the seeds should not be chewed nor swallowed. He gives a graphic description of the severe colic he suffered when, as a lad of eight, he ate all the May-apples he could. Labra- dor-tea he finids to make an agreeable beverage, but advises against drinking more than a cup at a time because of its narcotic effects.

Every one who camps out in the woods and who knows enough about botany to identify the commoner plants will cer- tainly wish to make use of this book to aid him in supplementinig a monotonous diet of canned goods with native novelties.

EDGAR T. WHERRY

WHAT IS DOWN BELOW'

THIS volume, one of the series on vari- ous physical properties of the earth pub-

1 Internal Constitmttion of the Earth. Edited by Beno Gutenberg. Illustrated. ix + 413 pp. $5.00. McGraw-Hill Book Company.

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