THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR. 323 



' 



weather will cause a subsidence in the activity of the 

 disease germ." 



But to ladies particularly do I recommend oysters, as 

 the best of all light meals between breakfast and dinner. 

 At the period of a lady's married life when nausea is preva- 

 lent, a few fresh oysters, taken raw in their own liquor, 

 with no addition but a little pepper, and a fairy slice of 

 French roll or other light bread, a fresh lemon squeezed 

 over each, stops the feeling of sickness, and keeps up the 

 stamina unimpaired. During the time, too, when a young 

 child most requires maternal care and attention, the 

 mother's diet of oysters will impart strength to the infant, 

 and tend much to alleviate the pains of its first teething. 



There are many persons who, looking at an oyster 

 calmly reposing in its shell, have a repugnance to the eat- 

 ing thereof, and it may be difficult to overcome the dislike. 

 However, as a proof that oysters in general are nice to the 

 taste, let me mention that children under two years of age 

 eat them with great appetite ; and it is only after having 

 discontinued eating any for some time that they take a dis- 

 like to them. 



But that dislike is generally very easily overcome. If 

 any reader of this book experiences a difficulty in per- 

 suading a friend to take his or her first oyster, let the fol- 

 lowing method of procedure be employed : Take a French 

 roll (or a piece of milk-bread), thinly buttered, and put on 

 it the oyster deprived of its beard, then squeeze a few 

 drops of lemon juice upon it, and present it to the person, 

 who, as a rule, will swallow it, and make some remark to 

 the effect that the taste of the oyster is not so disagreeable 

 as it looks, and then, probably, will demand a second and 

 a third. 



