314 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



not produce indigestion under given circumstances," says 

 Reveille-Parise, " but oysters never." This is an homage 

 which is due to them : " We may eat them to-day, to- 

 morrow, eat them always, and in profusion, without fear of 

 indigestion." Dr. Gastaldi could swallow, we are assured, 

 his forty dozen with impunity quite a bank must he have 

 eaten ! He was unfortunately struck with apoplexy at 

 table before a/>d/e de foie gras. 



Montaigne quaintly says, to be subject to colic, or 

 deny oneself oysters, presents two evils to choose from, 

 since one must choose between the two, and hazard some- 

 thing for his pleasure. 



The oyster may be said to be the palm and glory of 

 the table. It is considered the very perfection of digestive 

 aliment. From Stockholm to Naples, from London to St. 

 Petersburg, it is always in request. At St. Petersburg they 

 cost a paper rouble (nearly one shilling), and at Stockholm 

 fivepence each. For the last year or two the English 

 oyster eater has had to pay from two shillings to half-a- 

 crown a dozen for choice natives. (1863). 



The real secret of the great digestibility of the oyster 

 lies in the fact that, although its substance is most nutri- 

 tive, yet it contains a very small quantity of azotised matter 

 -or matter containing nitrogen of which the fleshy parts 

 of the body are composed. It also explains the immense 

 consumption of them attributed to the Emperor Vitellius. 

 Without this being so Vitellius, all emperor and master of 

 the world as he was, never could have absorbed twelve 

 hundred oysters by way of whetting his appetite. 



The gourmets were long of opinion that the quadran- 

 gular-shaped muscle or cushion in the oyster was the most 

 savoury and exciting part. Certain distinguished amateur 

 performers adopted and proclaimed the principle of divid- 



