674 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



instead of the English oyster, whose fine quality and powers 

 of rapid growth and fattening were incontestable, or the 

 " gravette r ' of Arcachon, with its fine shape and exquisite 

 flavor ? These oysters being accustomed to the waters of 

 the ocean, which differ greatly both as regards saltness 

 and temperature from those of the Mediterranean, it could 

 not be expected that they would become acclimated with- 

 out difficulty, and that the regularity with which reproduction 

 took place in their native water would not be interrupted. 

 The proof that these oysters were not suited to this place 

 is the fact that no trace of them now remains there, while 

 the indigenous kind, although few in numbers, it is true, 

 has survived. It has been objected that the varieties may 

 have become confounded in one type, or, that those planted 

 at Toulon may have become transformed and have acquired 

 the character of the native oysters. 



The first objection is very easily refuted. It is probable 

 that the foreign variety may have undergone some modifi- 

 cation, but this could not have been great enough to have 

 deceived the experienced eye of a naturalist. 



From these facts it must not be inferred that the 

 acclimation of foreign oysters is neither possible nor 

 advantageous. There are precedents which demonstrate 

 the contrary, and it will be sufficient to remind the reader 

 that the American oyster (Ostrea virginiand] has prospered 

 well in the basin of Arcachon ; that the Portuguese oyster 

 (Ostrea angulata) now reproduces naturally in the lower 

 Gironde, just as it does at Arcachon, and that it does not 

 suffer from its forced residence in the parks of Saint Vaast- 

 la-Hougue, where the water is very considerably colder 

 than it is at the mouth of the Tage, of which this oyster is 

 a native. In the third place, some indispensable precautions 



