THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR. 317 



exclaiming with a smile, "There you may behold the foun- 

 tain of my youthful strength." 



Dr. Lenac considered them the most nourishing food 

 in existence, and another writer (Percy) relates having 

 seen a large number of wounded persons, exhausted by the 

 loss of blood and bad treatment, who were entirely kept 

 up by eating oysters. 



The above proves that oysters make blood, or increase 

 the quantity of that fluid circulating through the veins, 

 without heating the system, or bringing on any of those 

 feverish symptoms which other forms of diet and medicine 

 are apt to produce. 



"When in Prussia," writes the author of "The 

 Oyster," "I once asked a person who did a large retail 

 business in oysters what class of persons he found to be 

 his best customers, and what was the number of oysters 

 daily consumed by each individual ?' 



" The morning scarcely begins to dawn," he replied, 

 " ere ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and servants, 

 both male and female, make their appearance, not only 

 from my immediate neighbourhood, but also from the most 

 remote parts of the city, when, on an average, every one 

 buys from half a dozen up to a dozen, in addition to their 

 purchases for the several families, and in accordance with 

 their requirements." 



And those who do likewise in Great Britain and Ire- 

 land will soon find out the benefit of this nutritive food 

 taken thus early on an empty stomach. " I once heard of 

 an individual," continues the same accomplished writer, in 

 his scholarly and edifying brochure, " who made a bet that 

 he would eat twelve dozen oysters, washed down by twelve 

 glasses of champagne, while the cathedral clock of the 

 city which he inhabited was striking twelve. He won his 



