THE EDIBLE FROG. 109 



prepared, the dame de la halle dived her hand in among thtm 

 and having secured her victim by the hind legs, she severed him 

 in twain with a sharp knife; the legs, minus skin, still struggling 

 were placed on a dish ; and the head, with the fore-legs affixed, 

 retained life and motion, and performed such motions that the 

 operation became painful to look at. These legs were afterwards 

 cooked at the restaurateurs, being served up fried in bread- 

 crumbs, as larks are in England ; and most excellent eating they 

 were, tasting more like the delicate flesh of the rabbit than any- 

 th : ng else I can think of. I afterwards tried a dish of the 

 common English frog, but his flesh is not so white nor so tender 

 as that of his French brother. 



Frogs, and sometimes toads, are, more exten- 

 sively eaten than some of us would imagine. In 

 China, at New York, on the banks of the Seine and 

 the Amazon, in the West Indies and the East, in 

 the Phillippines and the Antilles, by both barbarous 

 and civilized races, frogs or toads are regarded as 

 delicacies. Professor Dumeril used to warn his 

 pupils that the dealers, in collecting frogs, often met 

 with toads, and never rejected them, but cutting off 

 the hind quarters and skinning them, mixed all 

 together, toads and frogs, and sent them to Paris to 

 be eaten. The Chinese have a peculiar taste with 

 regard to frogs, and economize portions which the 

 Parisians reject. Mr Fortune says : — 



They are brought to market in tubs and baskets, and the 

 vendor employs himself in skinning them as he sits making sales. 

 He is extremely expert at this part of his business. He takes up 

 the frog in his left hand, and with a knife which he holds in his 

 right, chops off the fore part of its head. The skin is then 

 drawn back over the body, and down to the feet, which are 

 chopped off and thrown away. The poor frog, still alive but 



