380 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



business a contract with the Anglo-Portuguese Oyster 

 Fisheries Company (Limited) for the annual supply of up to 

 twenty millions of Anglo-Portuguese oysters, of mature and 

 marketable size, direct from the Tagus, relative to which 

 Dr. Arthur H. Hassell reports : 



" Tagus oysters in their natural or wet state contain 

 0098 grains per cent, of Iodine, equal to '0128 grains of 

 Iodide of Potassium, and '0014 grains of Bromine, equal 

 to "02 grains per cent, of Bromide of Potassium. 



" The English oysters were carefully examined for 

 Iodine and Bromine, but the traces found were so small as 

 not to allow of the determination of the quantity." 



Dr. Abbots Smith, M.R.C.P., London, Physician to the 

 North London Consumption Hospital, &c., says : 



"The ' Anglo-Portugo ' oysters are of excellent quality 

 and in good natural condition. Invalids and persons in 

 delicate health will find these oysters specially suited for 

 their use, as, in addition to their nourishing qualities, they 

 are naturally impregnated with Iodine derived from the sea- 

 water, without in any degree affecting the delicate flavour 

 which they possess." 



It may not be out of place here to mention that the 

 Tagus oyster (d} is also largely cultivated in the French 

 oyster beds. Its introduction and acclimatization in 

 France are due to an accidental case, (e) 



A vessel bound from Portugal was laden with a cargo 

 of this oyster. Having entered the Gironde, after a long 

 passage, the captain believing the oysters dead, threw the 

 cargo overboard, upon an old oyster-bed named the 



(d) Ostrea angulata (the Gryphiza angulata of Lamarck.) 

 (e) "Oyster culture in France," Translation of Report, by M. 



Bouchon-Brandeley, 1883. 



