MODERN HISTORY OF THE OYSTER. 57 



from France, in order to increase, and be ameliorated of 

 their saltness by the constant flow of fresh water from two 

 great rivers, the Thames and the Medway. It must there- 

 fore be admitted that, although oysters are found round all 

 the coast, yet those of the bay of the Roman Rutupiae, or 

 Richborough, may justly claim the preference of all 

 others." 



From Bishop Spratt's account of oysters, given in the 

 " History of the Royal Society," republished in Latin by 

 Dr. Lister in his " Hist. An. Angl.," copied from Dale's 

 "History of Harwich," by Pennant, in his "British 

 Zoology," 'and since by Professor Forbes, I shall only 

 quote, to show that, probably from the beds having been 

 over-fished since the Bishop's time, the oysters now spawn 

 much later than they did formerly. This subject will be 

 referred to again in the course of the work more fully. 



The Bishop states, "that in the mounth of J\Iay oysters 

 cast their spawn (which the dredgers call spat) : it is like 

 to a drop of a candle, and about the bigness of a half- 

 penny 'Tis probably conjectured that the spat 



in twenty-four hours begins to have a shell. In the mounth 

 of May the dredgers (by law of the Admiralty Court) have 



liberty to catch all manner of oysters The 



reason of the scarcity of oysters, and consequently of their 

 dearness, is that they are bought up by the Dutch." 



"The reason why a penalty is set upon any that shall 

 destroy the cultch is, because they fear that if that be taken, 

 away the ouse will increase, and then muscles and cockles 

 will breed there and destroy the oysters, they not having 



whereon to stick their spat The male oyster 



is black-sick, and the female white-sick." 



