176 UTILIZATION OF MINUTE LIFE. 



likewise dredged it off Cape Trafalgar in sand, and 

 off Malaga in mud, but have not noticed it further 

 eastward in the Mediterranean." 



It is a curious fact that oysters become sooner 

 developed in shallow water, and are then by far the 

 most highly-esteemed for the table. Moreover, 

 oysters that are dredged in deep water far from the 

 coast expel from their shell the whole of the water 

 it contains, the moment they are taken from their 

 natural element ; whilst those which are taken on 

 the coast, from beds which are daily deprived of 

 water by the retiring tide, preserve the water con- 

 tained in the valves of their shells, and can be 

 transported to great distances without losing their 

 freshness. Thus the American oyster, one of the 

 many varieties of Ostrea edulis, is imported alive 

 into Liverpool at the average rate of sixty-five 

 bushels a year. 



In November, 1861, the French papers Le Journal 

 du Havre and the Moniteur, announced the success 

 of an experiment, made with a view of acclimatizing 

 American mollusca on the French coast. M. de 

 Broca, M. Coste, and Count de Ferussac, took part 

 in the undertaking, and on the coast at Hogue Saint 

 Wast breeding-beds were prepared. In 1861, the 

 steward of the " Arago " steamer brought over about 

 200 oysters, and the same quantity of clams, a shell- 

 fish consumed in great quantities in the United 



