THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR. 335 



7. DIRECT AMERICAN. Brought direct from America 

 to London ; not laid in English beds prior to sale. Aver- 

 age size ; 3^- inches long, 2f inches broad. Shape ; cur- 

 ved on the flat, beak-shaped. General description.- 

 Exterior ; coarsely corrugated on convex shell, with the 

 corrugations radiating from the lip ; upper shell nearly 

 flat. Interior ; blue-brown adductor muscle mark. Very 

 hard to open. Flavour ; tasty, but not rich or delicate. 

 Other remarks. Blue Points so called on account of the 

 blue spot left on the shell after detaching the oyster ; the 

 spot remains the same whether the oyster is transplanted 

 or not. " Blue Points" and " East Rivers" are very simi- 

 lar, coming originally from the same place Chesapeake 

 Bay. The Blue Point is cultivated for market purposes 

 at Long Island, and the "East River" in the East River. 

 There are direct East Rivers and East Rivers planted in 

 England often called relaid East Rivers. 



8. CALLIES. North Sea; deep sea oysters; fattened 

 in England. Average size : 3 inches long, 2% broad. 

 Shape : very irregular ; curved in all directions ; attached 

 to broken piece of rock. General description. Exterior : 

 very rough and uncouth looking, with piece of rock 

 attached : undulated in every direction with numerous 

 excrescences all over the surface ; resembles a rough stone 

 more than an oyster ; in reality, a thin hard shell. Inte- 

 rior : Blue adductor muscle mark ; Fish well fills the shell ; 

 corrugation marks well seen inside. Easy to open. Fla- 

 vour ; sweet, luscious ; exceedingly good. Quite different 

 to the Callais. 



9. FRANCO-DUTCH. Born and bred at Arcachon in 

 France ; fattened in Holland and brought direct to London. 

 Average size ; 2^ inches long ; ^\ inches broad. Shape ; 



