216 ANIMAL FOOD EESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS, 



CHAPTER VII. 

 Reptiles, Snakes, and Amphibians Eaten as Food. 



Turtles and Tortoises — Land, Marsh, Eiver and Sea Tortoises — 

 Flesh Largely Eaten in Various Countries — Terrapins of 

 America Great Food Delicacies — Turtle Soup and Dried 

 Turtle Flesh — Sources of Supply of Turtle — Recipes for 

 Cooking Turtle — Flesh of Loggerhead Turtle not Good — 

 Crocodiles and Alligators Eaten — Lizards Eaten — Monitors — 

 Iguanas — Snakes Eaten in Many Countries — Snake Wine — 

 Amphibians — Frogs Eaten in Europe, America, and Asia — 

 Modes of Catching Them^-Recipes for Cooking Them — Sala- 

 mander and Aloxotl Eaten. 



Reptiles. — Of these we find that many are eaten with 

 eagerness all over the world, and neither want of beauty 

 nor abundance of venom protect them against omnivorous 

 man. In vain they assume all manner of ugly shapes ; 

 in vain they move, creeping and hopping and sliding, 

 although they suggest to us by form and motion all that 

 is false and unfair, hideous and horrid ; even God's curse 

 of the serpent does not shield it ; and from the humble 

 frog of the pond to the colossal crocodile of Egypt, they 

 are all but so much food for their master. 



Taking the first order, Tortoises or Turtles, we find the 

 flesh of many kinds is tender and palatable, and the eggs 

 of most are much esteemed as food. Of the eggs we 

 haVe spoken in the last chapter. Professor Dumeril has 

 classed the tortoises, according to their habits, into four 

 families : — 



. 1. Chersites, or land tortoises. 



2. JSlodites, or PalncUnes — marsh tortoises. 



3. Potamites, or Fluviales — river tortoises. 



4. Thalassites, or sea tortoises. 



Speaking generally, it may be stated that the flesh of 



