THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR. 337 



Once more, I would advise you to open your own 

 oysters, or learn to do so as quickly as possible, being 

 careful at all times to save the precious liquor (the life in- 

 vigorating qualities of which have been already described) ; 

 should you, however, be, what I may term, so constitu- 

 tionally-unfortunate as to find the liquor distasteful to you, 

 use it for the purpose of washing your hands. After re- 

 peated experiments, I find that the skin of the hands when 

 washed in oyster liquor, become soft and white. The 

 hands, subject to this immersion, experience an effect very 

 similar to that of the waters of Schlangenbad the famous 

 German watering resort for invalids. But, after all, I 

 would counsel you rather to drink the liquor than misuse 

 it thus, and when you open an oyster, do not forget to do 

 so with the convex shell downwards, so as to retain as 

 'much of the fluid as possible, and masticate the bivalve, not 

 swal/ozu it, to get the true flavour. 



"When to eat Oysters?" Oyster Suppers are common 

 enough ! We never hear of an Oyster Breakfast, Lun- 

 cheon, or Dinner, and the preference for supper and 

 supper-time is because they are so easily digestible, and, 

 of course, do not lie heavy on the stomach. But, for all 

 that, it is by no means unusual to partake of a few to act 

 as a first course either at luncheon or dinner, but in each 

 case they are eaten solely with a view to invigorate the 

 appetite for what may follow. With regard to my own 

 liking I prefer them when in season; (from the 5th of August 

 till the 1 4th of June) a few of the luscious bivalves never 

 come amiss. 



It is a remarkable fact that a daily meal of them after 

 a lowering illness, very considerably reduces the length of 

 convalescence. 



