EASTERN OYSTERS. 35 



examined frequently, for a single broken stake 

 might let in enough enemies in one night to 

 cause great destruction. 



And so you see the oyster lives in a kind of 

 prison; but the defenses are not to keep him in, 

 but rather to keep his enemies out. Even then 

 the starfishes may creep in between the stakes, 

 but they move slowly, and when they are found 

 they are slaughtered without mercy. 



There are just two other enemies to oysters 

 that we will mention at this time. Since neither 

 of them are alive, they cannot be destroyed by 

 killing. In this they differ from the starfish. 

 Their names are frost and mud. 



Frost comes on cold winter nights, and mud 

 comes in the time of very heavy rains. Frost 

 never does any harm unless a very low tide comes 

 with it, leaving the tender oysters exposed to 

 the cold night air. Then the poor things are 

 liable to shiver for a while, and then go to sleep, 

 never to wake up again. But this enemy is not 

 much feared in California. 



With mud the case is different, for if the oyster- 

 grounds are too near the inlet of a brook, it is 

 possible that in times of freshet a great quantity 

 of soil will be brought down from the land and 

 spread over the bottom of the bay, burying the 



