324 OYSTERS, AND ALL ABOUT THEM. 



Of course it is always possible to have too much of a 

 good thing, and so one may swallow too many oysters, or 

 shell-fish of other kinds. When this is the case, and 

 unpleasant sensations are the result, the inconvenience 

 may be entirely removed by drinking half a pint of hot 

 milk ; in fact, people of delicate organization ought always 

 to drink hot milk after oysters, instead of the brown stout 

 that more robust souls delight in. 



When eaten for health, an oyster is best swallowed in 

 its own liquor the moment the shell is opened ; or, if too 

 cold for the stomach, a sprinkling of pepper will remedy 

 the evil. Vinegar counteracts the effect of the oyster 

 enriching the blood ; so, when the oyster is eaten medici- 

 nally, it must be excluded. 



Strange as it is, it is still true that persons are to be 

 found who pride themselves on the number of oysters they 

 can eat. " If the reader, contemplating an oyster lying on 

 its native bank, or subsequently on its bed, calmly imbib- 

 ing nourishment as its only occupation, has thought that 

 there is an oyster-life of humanity, the allegation may for 

 a moment be entertained, from what we know of the gour- 

 mands of the past and present. Not that we should judge 

 without intelligent discrimination. It is easy to heap 

 people together, as was done in a huge machine at the 

 time of the French Revolution, that they might be plunged 

 together into the Seine, to save the troublesome formalities 

 of a trial ; but we should guard, even on the smallest 

 scale, against any such outrage of truth and righteousness." 



It must therefore be admitted, that a temperate use of 

 the bounties of Providence coincides entirely with the 



j 



purposes and precepts of Him who hath " given us all 

 things richly to enjoy." We may not only eat to live, but 

 we may eat that which specially ministers to the gratifica- 



