THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR. 313 



how slight is the partition which separates the sublime 

 from the ridiculous." 



The species of oysters usually eaten are the common 

 oyster (Ostrea edulis, Linnaeus), of our own coasts and the 

 opposite shore, and the horsefoot oyster fO. hippopus, 

 Linnaeus). On the Mediterranean coast are the rose- 

 coloured oyster (0. rosacea, Favanue), and the milky 

 oyster (O. lacteola, Moquin-Tandon), besides the small and 

 little-known crested oyster (0. cristata, Born), and the 

 folded oyster (0. plicata, Chemnitz). On the Corsican 

 coast is the oyster called foliate (0. lamellosa, Brocchi). 



Oysters undoubtedly are very nourishing. When the 

 spirits are depressed, and disagreeable feelings pervade 

 both body and mind, in consequence of impaired diges- 

 tion, let the persons so afflicted eat a few oysters, and 

 cheerfulness soon returns. They are enabled once more 

 to see through the gloom which seemed to envelop the 

 system in a living shroud ; the physical powers are renewed, 

 and life once more seems sweet to the man who but a 

 short time before wished life was at an end. Whatever 

 modern physicians may say and there are few who con- 

 demn the oyster there is little doubt that in olden times 



J 



the doctors then existing recommended oyster eating ; and 

 not only that, but the external application of the bivalve to 

 sores and bruises, as I have elsewhere mentioned. 



It has been demonstrated as a gastronomic truth, that 

 there is no feast worthy of a connoisseur where oysters do 

 not come to the front. It is their office to open the way, 

 by that gentle excitement which prepares the stomach for 

 its proper function, digestion ; in a word, the oyster is the 

 key of that paradise called appetite. " There is no ali- 

 mentary substance, not even excepting bread, which does 



