Have you heard the story about the frogs in the bucket? To make a long story short two frogs accidentally fell into a bucket of milk. One frog grew tired trying to escape over the bucket's tall sides and drowned in the milk while the other persevered.

The second frog churned the milk until it was butter and then used it as a platform to escape a milky death. Or it could have been one frog who almost drowned and then cleverly escaped, either way: frogs in milk.

From my understanding of the literature (this press release) it is from that story the Russians decided if you would like to keep your milk from souring you just throw a frog in and voila! you have butter or a dead frog in your milk -in Russia prize comes out of milk jug and not cereal box.

This piece of questionable household advice led  A. T. Lebedev of the organic chemistry department at Moscow State University and colleagues to the Russian Brown frog (Rana temporaria) for further study of the frog’s antimicrobial skin.

Studies have shown that amphibians ooze peptides from their skin to prevent the bacteria and microorganisms that live in the same places as they do from attacking them-think of it as their own brand of soap.
 
The Russian Brown frog secretes 21 substances with antibiotic or other medical applications and Lebedev’s team thought there could be more “medical treasures” or secrets of the ooze to be found on the frog.

Using a sensitive laboratory technique (electrostimulation according to the abstract) the team identified 76 more substances that have antimicrobial properties.

The lab tests demonstrated that some of the substances were as effective as prescription antibiotic medicines against Salmonella and Staphylococcus bacteria.

“These peptides could be potentially useful for the prevention of both pathogenic and antibiotic resistant bacterial strains while their action may also explain the traditional experience of rural populations,” the scientists concluded.

Were rural populations rubbing themselves with frogs or dropping frogs into whatever foodstuff struck their fancy to utilize the frog’s peptides? Is that why in the fairy tale “The Frog Prince” the princess kissed the frog (or threw him against the wall according to earlier versions of the tale) because she was really looking for an organic substitute for triclosan? No one is going to question frogs in soups because there may one day be frogs in our soap.