THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR. 311 



"Most probably," says he, "mere hunger first put men 

 on that trial. Thus necessity has often been the purveyor 

 to provide diet for delicacy itself ; famine maketh men to 

 find out those things which afterwards prove not only 

 wholesome, but delicious ;" and he concludes with the 

 remark already mentioned, " Oysters are the only meat 

 that men eat alive, and yet account it no cruelty." 



The speculations of a human stomach, in reference to 

 some of its adventures, would doubtless be amusing, and 

 the " Memoirs of a Stomach" will cast some light on the 

 present subject. 



"The day was over, the bell was sounded for 'all in,' 

 and prayers were called, when, during the confusion of the 

 boys rushing to their places, I found myself carried, as fast 

 as legs could carry me, far beyond the precincts of the 

 school grounds, so I felt certain that an ordeal of some 

 sort was in store. Instead of finding myself as usual in a 

 pastry-cook's shop, a certain marine odour of stale fish 

 puzzled me extremely ; and I waited the elucidation of the 

 mystery with such feelings as only a stomach experiences 

 when he is all uncertain as to what is going on and what is 

 coming in, and when he is placed at the mercy of a hungry 

 and unscrupulous schoolboy. 



" I was not long held in suspense, and never shall I 

 forget my sensations. Down there came, flopping no 

 other word is descriptive into my astonished inside, a 

 small mucilaginous mass of a saltish flavour, almost flutter- 

 ing with life (good powers ! I thought, it has not had time 

 to settle its affairs), accompanied by a fluid of extreme 

 acidity, and by particles of black pepper, hot and pungent. 

 I really was never so completely astounded in my life. 

 Over and over I turned the wonderful compound, but 

 could make nothing at all of the shapeless little monster. 



