OYSTERS. 23D 
size, or that do not tread under their feet, or throw 
upon the shore, a fish, which they call a five-finger, 
resembling a spur-rowel, because that fish gets into 
the oysters when they gape, and sucks them out.... 
‘The oysters are sick after they have their spat; 
but in June and July they begin to mend, and in 
August are perfectly well. The male oyster is 
black sick, having a black substance in the fin. 
They are salt in the pits, salter in the layers, 
saltest at sea.” 
For the most recent information respecting the 
oyster-beds which supply the London market, the 
extent of the supply, and the opinions of those 
practically concerned in their management and in 
the sale of their products, on points in the history 
and value of what may be termed cultivated 
oysters, we are indebted to Messrs. Forbes and 
Hanley, who obtained it from gentlemen of prac- 
tical experience in the trade. From their valuable 
History of the British Mollusca the following par- 
ticulars are extracted :— 
“The oyster-beds from which the principal 
supply for the London market is procured, are 
those of Whitstable, Rochester, Milton, Colchester, 
Burnham, Faversham, and Queenborough, all arti- 
ficial beds, furnishing natives. Since the intro- 
duction of steam-boats and railroads, considerable 
quantities of sea-oysters are brought from Falmouth 
and Helford, in Cornwall, from the coast of Wales, 
the Isle of Wight and its neighbourhood i in Sussex, 
and even from Ireland and Scotland, after the 
winter sets in, as before they would not keep fresh 
enough when brought from long distances. The 
supply derived from natural beds varies much, 
since on some of them the oysters are not sufti- 
