48 NOTES ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 



off, give them a fresh supply, phicing in the tub a large lump of salt, and leave 

 them for 24 hours. Tlie oysters will then disgorge any unpleasant fluid they may 

 have imbibed. They have practically liad an emetic ! Again pour away the fluid 

 and place the shells in fresh water, with a small quantitv of salt and a handful of 

 oatmeal, and now the fattening-up process has begun ; leave as before for one day. 

 Throw away the water when this is completed, again immerse in pure, 

 cold water, and the oysters, in a perfectly hygienic condition, are ready for 

 consumption." 



[Speaking as one who has never swallowed a lining mollusc, 

 I should be disposed to add, in the words of a celebrated wit, 

 " and then throw them out of the window !" — W.C.] 



Bird Snaring. — In the lUustrated London News, of Jan. 10, 

 1903, are two pages illustrating " The violation of the Wild 

 Birds Protection Act : Snarers at work." One picture exhibits 

 " Snaring and Poaching in Epping Forest during close time. 

 Reassuring the police." The artist is Mr. P. Freuzeny. Below 

 the bird-snaring picture are the remarks : — 



" Few wild birds long survive ca]itivity ; but neither that fact, nor the fact that 

 certain birds accustomed to feed on the smallest insects cannot possibly obtain the 

 food essential to them, prevents their capture and sale to young or ignorant 

 buyers. In a recent London County Court case, the defendant stated that he 

 generally bought a hundred dozen linnets, sicylarks, and other British song-birds a 

 week. For linnets he paid two pounds for ten dozen," 



The Effects of Fogs. — In the Spectatov of December 6th 

 there is an interesting article on " Fog," beginning with the 

 remark : — '' London clay and the Essex marshes are two factors 

 which help to keep the soil and air of East London cold, and so 

 to condense the vapour in the air till it turns to fog." After 

 giving some personal experiences of fogs in London and elsewhere, 

 the writer mentions the bewildering effects of fog on animals, 

 remarking that " no bird sings or utters a call in such weather, 

 perhaps because it fears to betray its whereabouts to an enemy." 

 He gives the case of a blind man, wdio was in the habit of coming 

 up every day from a little town two miles off, carrying notes and 

 parcels, who became lost in a fog, and was seen wandering about 

 in a field next to the road, feeling his way with a stick. He had 

 scarcely ever lost his way before. Asked why he had gone astray 

 (as fog might be supposed to make no difference to a blind 

 man), he said that " in a fog the ground sounded quite 

 different." 



