THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OYSTER. i 9 



higher vertebrata ? And, in the aggregate of the chords by which the 

 oesophageal ganglia communicate with the pedal and branchial ones, 

 do we not see the analogue of at least a portion of the spinal cord, 

 that portion which consists of afferent and efferent nerves to and from 

 the brain ? " It is plain, then, that, with a brain outfit of such a charac- 

 ter aud quantity, there must be something of a corresponding brain- 

 force. In plain words, we mean that, possessing such a physiology, 

 the oyster must sustain an analogous psychological relation. Organs 

 imply functions. Pythagoras held that " animals have reason but no 

 mind." Let us, then, see what sort of impressions an oyster can re- 

 ceive, and what kind of thinking it can do. If not too preposterous, 

 we may even indicate its capacity to receive a modicum of education. 



The adult oyster is eyeless, and of course blind. Yet it does with- 

 out eyes that which we in its position could not do better with. It is 

 affirmed that a bed of oysters has been seen to close by a precau- 

 tionary impulse at the approach of a row-boat, even before the shadow 

 of the approaching boat had reached them. Now, this is more than a 

 blind man's distinguishing light from darkness. Is not that an ex- 

 quisite sensitiveness which can thus note the faintest tint of shadow 

 the extremest margin of an oncoming obscuration? 



Before the railroad days, our oyster-growers used early in the fall 

 to canvass the villages on the Hudson River for orders, to be filled just 

 before the river should be closed with ice. The meaning of this is 

 that these men committed themselves to supply oysters in the shell, 

 with the guarantee that the bivalves thus supplied should not die 

 before their time came. The oysters were actually kept alive during 

 the greater part of the long winter. The fat bivalves were handled 

 with some care, and were spread on the cellar-floor, the round or lower 

 side down, so as not to allow the liquor to escape. That such a life 

 required a great change of capacity or habit in the bivalve is evident; 

 and it needed a training, yes, an education, ere the oyster attained to 

 such ability. And this was the way it was done : Beginning early in 

 the fall, the cultivator of the oyster took up the fat bivalves from 

 their bed where he had planted them, and laid them a little higher up 

 on the shore, so that for a short time each day they were exposed out 

 of the water. After a few days of this exposure by the retreating 

 tide, they were moved a little higher still on the shore-line, which 

 gave them a little longer exposure to the air at each low tide. And 

 this process was continued, each remove resulting in a longer ex- 

 posure. And with what results? Two very curious ones inurement 

 to exposure, and the inculcation of a provident habit of making prepa- 

 ration for the same. What ! providence in an oyster ? Yes, when 

 he's educated. When accustomed to this treatment, ere the tide 

 retires, the oyster takes a good full drink, and retains the same until 

 the tide returns. Once, while waiting for the stage at a country 

 hostelry, we overheard the following between two rustic practitioners 



