FROG BREEDING

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 103, 4 May 1933, Page 17

FROG BREEDING

WOMAN'S NOVEL IDEA

The latest and most novel industry meditated in Melbourne is the breeding of frogs. It is the idea of ,aj woman (says the "Argus"). She called at the Museum, introduced herself, and announced that her visit was prompted by an ambition to ■ ilearn something of the technique of frogbreeding. Apparently having in ' mind thp tradition of the frog that ''would-, a-wooing'go," she suggested that'if tho frogs could be persuaded to aSapt themselves to captivity their.owner might do reasonably, well in trading with the University. . , The best that the men at the'

Musouin could offer the potential breeder of frogs was their good wishes. Apart from the fact that they had made no study of frog courtship, they had .doubts about the market. The.Univ versity employs large numbers of frogs for study—the zoology school requires about 1500, and the physiology classes need about 1000 each year—but these are provided by men employed for the purpose, and no further supplies are required. . ' A possibility is the cultivation of a market for' frogs as food. Australians, perhaps, are never likely to become frog-eaters, but the use of these creatures as food is very common in Europe. The species chiefly sought is the edible frog. It is taken for the markets by nets and a. kind of rake, and is sometimes specially fattened in preserves. The hind-legs are most frequently cooked, but other muscular parts may be prepared. They are usually dressed with sauces, and in flavour and tenderness, they are comparable to chicken. If Australians^eyer decide to follow the European, fashion of eating frogs they wilt suffer no lack of supplies. ■ The Commonwealth contains approximately 70 different kinds, ranging from the great river-frog, about 18in in length, to the tiny crinias, which are about lin long. Not necessarily to discourage an epicure, it should be added that many frogs carry a poisonous secretion in the skin which is fatal to : small animals, that eat | them. ..' , ..:.■''