On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:46:29 GMT, Scott > wrote:

>In article >,
> "jmcquown" > wrote:
>
>> But what made that first brave soul pluck a mushroom from the ground and eat
>> it? So many nightshades are deadly. What wild critters were they watching
>> to determine this one was okay and that one wasn't?
>
>I think it's hard for people in industrialized countries to realize just
>what hunger is--and what a person might do to avoid starving. If you're
>hungry enough, you might try to eat anything--especially if you don't
>have culturally indoctrinated ideas of what is yucky.

Not to mention that there are non lethal ways of testing new foods. Try
reading Clan of the Cave Bear for an interesting take on the process (or is
it the second in the series where she's testing things to see if they're
safe?)

--
Siobhan Perricone
Humans wrote the bible,
God wrote the rocks
-- Word of God by Kathy Mar