ISHBH will be meeting at the JMIH meeting in Norfolk, Virginia July 12-16.

 Dear ISHBH Members,

 

The ISHBH will be meeting at the Joint Meeting of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists in Norfolk, Virginia July 12-16. As many of you know, we usually have a lunch meeting over which we cover society business and finances. This year we will meet at 12:00-1:30 on July 16^th at Grain (https://grainnorfolk.com/about/), a restaurant at the Hilton, just across the street from meeting venue. They do not take reservations, but we ask that you let Aaron (aaron.bauer@villanova.edu) know if you plan on attending. A meeting agenda and Treasurer’s report will be made available before the meeting (and online to those unable to attend in person). This year we will not have a separate field trip, as we often do, but we hope to have an informal discussion session for current and potential members. We look forward to seeing some of you in a few weeks in Norfolk.

 

Please also watch for upcoming announcements about next year. ISHBH will be represented at two different meetings (SSAR in Ann Arbor, Michigan in late June and the World Congress of Herpetology in Kuching, Sarawak in August). Both meetings will have associated library field trips and we have the opportunity to have a contributed paper session in Ann Arbor and a symposium in Kuching. More details will be provided soon, but if any members would consider presenting a paper at either of these meetings, please contact Aaron (aaron.bauer@villanova.edu).

 

Best wishes,

 

Aaron

Bibliotheca Herpetologica 17(5)

Dodd, C. K. Jr. 2023. Promoting Amphibians and Reptiles in French Agriculture and Horticulture—Albert Larbalétrier and La Grenouille. Bibliotheca Herpetologica 17(5):46–49. Published June 20, 2023. Albert Larbalétrier (1863–1902?) was Professeur de l’École Pratique d’Agriculture du Pas-de-Calais, among other positions. As the name suggests, this and similar schools of practical agriculture were established to provide hands-on experience in farming regionally throughout France. In the United States today, we would call Larbalétrier an Agricultural Extension Service professor, as he published a great many books, booklets, and articles assisting farmers and gardeners in raising agricultural products (both plants and animals). His major work was published in 1888 as l’Agriculture et la Science Agronomique, but it contains nothing on amphibians and reptiles. Nevertheless, Larbalétrier was a proponent of diversifying agricultural opportunities, and frogs were a part of his strategy. Frog legs have long been esteemed in France, yet their supply depended on gathering frogs from wild populations. Larbalétrier’s first publication on the potential for farmers to diversify their income by raising frogs was in 1899, with a second in 1901, followed by his important booklet on frogs in agriculture, La Grenouille, published in 1902. He also published several other papers on both useful and potentially harmful amphibians and reptiles to horticulture.