238 MONOMYARIA.—OSTREAD &. 
oysters is from the 4th of August to January, and 
of natives from October to March. The consump- 
tion is said to be greatest during the hottest 
months after the commencement of the oyster 
season; the warmer the weather, the more oysters 
are consumed. They are brought to market in 
craft of various sizes; they are packed in bulk 
closely in the hold; in some cases a cask of salt- 
water is kept, from which to sprinkle them super- 
ficially. ‘Those that come by rail are packed with 
the convex shells downwards, in bags or barrels. 
From the boats they are transferred to the salesmen, 
who keep them in a little salt and spring water, 
and shift them every twelve hours. Some pretend 
to improve them by ‘feeding’ them on oatmeal. 
Oysters, like other bivalves, live chiefly on infu- 
soria. The quantity consumed annually in Lon- 
don varies in different seasons. One informant 
states twenty thousand bushels of natives, one 
hundred thousand bushels of common oysters, to 
be about the mark : another estimates the quantity 
sold in the season, from the 4th of August to the 
12th of May, to be nearly one hundred thousand 
London bushels; each bushel being three Man- 
chester, or imperial, bushels; and that about 
thirty thousand bushels of natives are sold during 
the same period by various Companies. Durin 
the season, commencing on August the 4th, 1848, 
and ending May 12th, 1849, Mr. Wickenden 
estimates about one hundred and thirty thousand 
bushels of oysters to have been sold in London, 
though of that quantity about one fourth was sent 
away to various parts of the United Kingdom 
and the Continent.” * 
* Forbes and Hanley, ii. 315. 
