252 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



Frogs are considered an excellent food dish by some 

 in Brazil. . 



In America, the flesh of the huge bull-frog (Rana 

 pipiens, Harl. ; B. mugiens, Catesby) is said to be tender, 

 white, and affords excellent eating. , Some bull-frogs 

 weigh as much as half a pound, but the hind legs are 

 the only parts used as food. 



The natives of parts of Australia when pinched for 

 food, capture large numbers of the common golden tree 

 frog (Hyla aurea) by the light of a torch at night. Other 

 tribes in Western Australia eat a species that burrows 

 in the sand, the aboriginal name of which is Guya 

 or Goya. It is in season in the months of April and 

 May. 



There is also a frog called Tolun-jar, eaten about King 

 George's Sound, and another called Tuck, from the noise 

 it makes. Thus the taste for this food extends to the 

 East. 



Mr. R. Fortune, in describing a Chinese market, ob- 

 serves : — " Frogs seemed much in demand. 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 busi- 

 ness. 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 headless, skinless, 

 and footless, is then thrown into another tub, and the 

 operation is repeated on the rest in the same way. 

 Every now and then the artist lays down his knife, and 

 takes up his scales to weigh these animals for his cus- 

 tomers, and make his sales. Everything in this civilised 

 country, whether it be gold or silver, geese or frogs, is 

 sold by weight." Bana tigrina is the frog eaten in 

 China. 



Many kinds of toads are believed by the Chinese 

 to have medicinal properties. Dr. Soubeiran, in his 

 " Materia Medica of the Chinese," states that several 



