Re: Extinction (was Jurassic Intelligence)

[NEIL CLARK <NCLARK@museum.gla.ac.uk>]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.. Jerry wrote:
        A friend of mine who was on some (I've forgotten) Pacific island
relayed to me an anecdote about how the natives eat cycad seeds.  Cycad
seeds are, apparently, highly poisonous if just eaten right off the plant,
but are quite common in this region and are a staple food item.  To
eliminate the poisons, the seeds are soaked repeatedly in bowls of water,
for several weeks, to leech the poisons out.  Apparently, they're toxic
enough that they just leave the bowls out in the open:  even insects won't
come near them!  I don't know what kind of mortality rate such a practice
has, though.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The same goes for Akkie (spelling?) that is used in its raw form to 
knock fish out as an aid to catch them.  If properly prepared though, 
it can be very tastey, if not.....deadly.  It is used in West Africa 
and Jamaica (probably else where too?).

Neil

Neil Clark
Curator of Palaeontology
Hunterian Museum
University of Glasgow
email: NCLARK@museum.gla.ac.uk

Mountains are found in erogenous zones.
(Geological Howlers - ed. WDI Rolfe)