272 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



mouth), the reason of which physiologists have never been 

 able to explain. This same sensation is produced in eating 

 an Ostend oyster, but it is much sweeter, more lasting, 

 and much more delightful. If the Romans had ever known 

 them, they would have sung their praises both in verse and 

 prose, and would by far have preferred them to their sadly 

 over-praised oysters from the Lucrine sea. 



The only oyster which can be brought into compe- 

 tition with those of Ostend, in the same markets, are the 

 Whitstable oysters, which have only recently become an 

 article of trade on the Continent, (a) There are also 

 " natives ' : from the Channel, generally larger than the 

 former, but unequal, not being sorted, very fat and full, 

 but much more tender, and do not keep fresh so long. 

 The cause of this may be that they are first taken from 

 Whitstable to London, where they are packed up and sent 

 by sea and rail to Hamburgh and Berlin, which takes 

 always from six to seven days. They have a fine flavour, 

 and are by some people preferred to the Ostend oysters : 

 although the latter, generally speaking, occupy the first 

 rank. These two species, and that of Holstein, are the 

 best oysters to be met with in the north of Europe. 



2. Channel Oysters. The oysters which, more parti- 

 cularly in the North of Germany, are an article of trade, 

 come from the Bay of St. Brieux and the Rock of Cancale, 

 on the British Channel, between the castle of that name, 

 Mount St. Michael, and St. Malo, and from the Channel 

 between Calais and its extreme point near Falmouth. 

 The bottom of this sea is flat and firm, and its stream near 

 the bottom not very strong, both favourable circumstances 

 for the propagation of oysters. This propagation must be 



(a] About 1860. 



