296 GENERAL VIEWS ON ARCH/EQLOGY. 



an oyster bed has been regularly worked. It is from this that the 

 city of Copenhagen is partly supplied. At the beginning of this 

 century some oysters were procured at the entrance of the. Isefjord, 

 now they are no longer known in that locality, 1 and, as a matter 

 of course, none are to be found in the innermost parts of the Isefjord. 

 And yet in ancient times oysters abounded there and even through- 

 out its whole extent. The fishing business may have contributed to 

 cause the decrease in the quantity of oysters, but it could never have 

 made them disappear entirely. Besides, the presence in the Isefjord 

 of beds of dead oysters in situ plainly proves that it is not the fishery 

 that has destroyed them. Their disappearance in the localities alluded 

 to must therefore be attributed to a diminution of the saltness of the 

 water, which must have become slightly fresher since the ancient 

 times. 



This observation is confirmed by what is remarked concerning the 

 cockles and littorines. These two species are still found ordinarily 

 living in the neighborhood of the Kjoekkemnoedding , in the inner part 

 of the Kattegat; but they are at present smaller, and do not attain the 

 vigorous development that they did in the old times in this vicinity. 



The four species of shell-fish mentioned are all edible and are still 

 used as food by mankind. They make their appearance, for example, 

 in the London markets. The oyster is, however, by far the best; 

 there is scarcely any other which is admitted to the table of the 

 wealthy. 



In addition to the four species referred, some others make their 

 appearance, but only as exceptions, in the Kjoekkenmoedding , undoubt- 

 edly because as food they are very inferior in quality, and also because 

 they are less abundant in the Danish waters. They are: 

 Buccinum reticidatam, L. 2 

 Buccinum undatum, L. 

 Venus palustra, Mont. 



As regards the Crustacea there are but few remains of crabs found. 

 The remains offish, on the other hand, are in great quantity. 



The herring (Clupea harengus, L.) is the most common, but the 

 following species are not rare: 



The Cod-fish, (Gadus callarias, L.) 



The Flounder, (Pleuronectes limanda, L.) 



The Eel, (Muraena anguilla, L.) 



The abundance of these remains of fish proves that the primitive 

 population used to fish in the open sea. And yet their craft could 

 scarcely have been anything more than canoes, formed of trunks 

 of trees scooped out by the aid of fire. One thing is certain, the 

 shell-fish, especially the oysters, could only have been procured by 

 fishing for them in boats, for the sea does not throw them up alive on 

 the shore. 



With reference to the eels, it is rather interesting to remark, that 

 their ancient remains abound especially in the localities in which the 



x It is well however to remark, that at this point it was a great numerical increase of the 

 star-fish, (Jlsterias rubens, L.,) which brought about at the commencement of the present 

 century the destruction of the last generations of oysters. 



2 Bucciumm nassa. 



