CHAPTER V. 



THE STRUCTURE OF THE OYSTER. 



THE PHRASE "STUPID AS AN OYSTER " HEADLESS BEINGS THE 

 MANTLE OF THE OYSTER THE STOMACH THE LIVER THE 

 HEART THE BREATHING ORGANS THE ORGANS OF NUTRI- 

 TION. 



YES ! I have decided thus to head this chapter rather than 

 adopt the somewhat repellant " Anatomy," which, if it 

 were placed as the finger-post to the path of knowledge in 

 this scientific portion of my book, would, doubtless point 

 to the opposite direction to that in which I am anxious 

 that both my oyster-eating and non-oyster-eating reader 

 should travel. 



In other words, I quite agree with M. Moguin-Tandon, 

 (a} that : " It is an open question whether it is judicious 

 to enter into the details of the anatomical structure of the 

 oyster ; for, generally, when we dissect an animal it 

 certainly does not improve our relish in eating it ; and, 

 moreover, zoologists who know 'ex professo the anatomi- 

 cal structure of the mollusc, tell us they try to forget their 

 knowledge when they are eating oysters. This is the 



(a) "The World of the Sen." p. 197. 



