On Sat, 19 Nov 2005, jmcquown wrote:

<snipped>
> >>
> >> I also learned in my googling that wild lima beans (well, wild
> >> "phaseolus lunatus" and possibly other variants) can be poisonous
> >> until cooked.
> >>
> >> ScottR
> >> --
> >> Scott Robins
> >>
> >
> > Thanks, Scott. That's interesting info. I've always wondered how
> > people figured out what they could eat and what they couldn't. I saw
> > a facinating documentary on mushrooms. The guy went out into the
> > woods and pointed out the "good" ones and the "bad" ones and told
> > why. But somebody had to eat them to find out which was which. geez.
> > I wouldn't have wanted to have
> > been in that lottery!
> >
> > Elaine, too
>
> I can only figure out some of this. I suspect "man" learned from watching
> animals and sea-birds. Why else would anyone think of eating raw oysters?!
> They certainly don't LOOK good.
>
> Jill
>

That is very sound reasoning. I've seen toadstools growing out in the
pasture and none of the grazing animals we had would ever touch them. But
they would eat things that we ate, like blackberries, crab apples, wild
cherries and persimmons (but only after they ripened, which is the smart
choice for man and beast!).

Elaine, too