REPTILES, SNAKES AND AMPHIBIANS EATEN AS FOOD. 253 



species of frogs are used by them. They prepare soups 

 with them, and a gelatine considered excellent for con- 

 valescents. A brown frog with black spots on the head 

 is especially esteemed for making broths and soups. 



The eating of frogs seems to be indulged in in the 

 Philippines, for a traveller tells us that — 



" After the rains there may generally be procured, by 

 those who like them, frogs, which are taken from the 

 ditch round the walls in great numbers, and are then 

 fat and in good condition for eating, making a very 

 favourite curry with some of the Europeans, their flesh 

 being very tender." (McMicking's " Manila.") 



Frogs are occasionally eaten also in Japan. 



The spotted salamander {Salamandra maculosa, Laur.) 

 is in high repute in China as an aphrodisiac, and is also 

 prescribed against epilepsy. The old Mexicans loved 

 the speckled salamander, and ate it with capsicum or 

 Spanish pepper ; the Spaniards learned the odd fashion, 

 and as late as the sixteenth century this ugly creature 

 was brought to their markets and roasted for the table. 

 The axolotl {Siredon Mexicanus, Shaw) is commonly sold 

 in the markets of Mexico, and dressed in the manner of 

 stewed eels, it is esteemed a great delicacy. 



