1178 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



The cost of oysters from other parts varies with the state 

 of the market. 



Oysters, both mature and immature, from Arcachon 

 and Auray are laid down at Whitstable in large quantities. 

 They are locally called "pearls," and after a short time 

 become almost identical in flavour to the native. Twenty- 

 eight million were imported in 1880, and there is no reason 

 to suppose that the supply has fallen off during the last two 

 seasons. It may, indeed, be shrewdly suspected that the 

 true British native, if not doomed to extinction, is, like the 

 black rat, becoming rarer and rarer every year, its place 

 being supplied by French oysters which, when placed under 

 the same conditions as natives, rapidly acquire both the 

 flavour and growth of the indigenous variety appearances 

 which, if not exact, approach the mark nearer and nearer 

 each generation. 



All oysters, other than natives, laid down in the Thames 

 Estuary rapidly strike out a fresh growth, the new shell 

 being plainly discernible from the older growth ; and what- 

 ever the "provenance" of such oysters be, they all more or 

 less resemble natives after a time, in shape, flavour and 

 texture of shell, the resemblance being greater the longer 

 the oyster remains in the beds. And it is now affirmed by 

 some persons that it requires but a few generations to turn 

 not only ordinary oysters but also Portuguese Gryphaea into 

 natives. This statement, however, remains yet to be 

 proved, and we believe that it is as difficult to eradicate 

 the " mark of Cain," i.e. the black spot out of the shell of 

 the Gryphaea, by natural selection as it is to make the 

 leopard change his spots. 



A large number of the oysters originally imported from 

 Arcachon and Auray, and laid down to fatten at Whitstable 



j ' 



in February or March, are removed during the ensuing 



