A HISTORY OF THE OYSTER. 



A.D. GO, was in high repute among the luxurious 

 Romans. 



Dr. Baster, as quoted by Dr. Johnston, appears to 

 liave been of opinion that the Roman predilection for 

 oysters was a sanitary one. " Living oysters," he 

 says, " are endowed with the proper medicinal 

 virtues ; they nourish wonderfully, and solicit rest ; 

 for he who sups on oysters is wont on that night to 

 sleep placidly ; and to the valetudinary afflicted with 

 a weak stomach oppressed with phlegm or bile, eight, 

 ten, or twelve raw oysters in a morning, or one hour 

 before dinner, is more healing than any drug or mix- 

 ture that the apothecary can compound." This mode 

 of acquiring an appetite for dinner appears to be con- 

 tinued to the present time, as it is not by any means 

 uncommon, in a hospitable friend's house, to be asked 

 to take a few oysters before dinner to give you an 

 appetite. 



Sallust, B.C. 50, appears to have had a very low 

 estimate of our ancestors, or else a very high one of 

 the oyster, when he says, " The poor Britons — there is 

 some good in them after all — they produce an oyster." 



One Sergius Grata is the first person of whom we 

 have an authentic account as a cultivator of oysters ; 

 for, says Pliny, he did not make them for the sake of 

 indulging his appetite, but through avarice ; and made 

 great profits of them. Grata got great credit for his 

 L\icrine oysters, for the British were not then known. 



