Abstract
Diet of Serbian Gypsies IN Serbia it is known that gypsies feed on carrion, and a number of instances of their addiction to the flesh of animals, which have not been slain for food, but have died a natural death or from disease, have been collected by Dr. Alexander Petrovic in a further contribution to his studies of the gypsies of Serbia (J. Gypsy Lore Soc., Ser. 3, 18, 1; 1939). This is a matter of preference, as it occurs even among the more well-to-do. Mirijevo, a village near Belgrade, where there are some twenty gypsy 'families whose material condition is comparatively good, is renowned for the fact that its gypsies eat carrion. When a peasant has a sow or hog or an ox that has died of some disease, he buries it in a piece of ground near the road. Someone will then inform the gypsies of the fact, and they will pay a small sum for the information. Then at night two or three will go to the spot indicated, dig up the carcass, and carry it home. At Rakovica, also near Belgrade, when there was a serious pestilence among the sheep in 1937 the peasants were at their wits' end to know what they should do with the dead sheep. Some were buried, others thrown into the fields and meadows. Gypsies from Ripanj, an outlying village, used to come at night, dig up the carcasses, and carry them away. Dead horses are also dug up and their hides, and sometimes the meat as well, are sold; but a gypsy never eats horseflesh, because the horse is a friend of the gypsies and is considered more or less a member of the family. Some of the poorer gypsies eat carrion meat without special preparation; but others prepare it by washing, soaking with nettles or garlic, and boiling until the smell has gone. Sedentary gypsies eat carrion meat only when with gypsies who prepare it in this way. It is then said, however, to be tasteless; while those who express preference for the flesh of animals that have died, say that it is on account of its flavour, which is superior to that of slain meat. Whether the sense of smell among gypsies is deficient is neither clear nor easy to ascertain. Their vocabulary, though not decisive one way or the other, suggests that they do not discriminate very decidedly between smells, good or bad-Race, Religion and Caste in India.
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Research Items. Nature 143, 248–250 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143248a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143248a0