THE OYSTER. 17 



open simply because it destroys the animal's power to 

 close it ; but a fresh oyster on the half-shell is no more 

 dead than an ox which has been hamstrung. Any 

 one who has struggled with an oyster-knife to force 

 open an obstinate thick-shelled specimen, knows the 

 great strength of this little muscle. It is said that 

 when fishermen are caught by the feet or hands 

 between the shells of the giant clam of the Pacific, they 

 never escape alive, but are held, as if by a vise, until 

 the tide rises and drowns them ; but firmly as the 

 muscle of the oyster holds the shell together, a little 

 skill is all that is needed to overcome it. Some years 

 ago, while on the State Oyster Commission, I stood , 

 with my watch in my hand, in a Crisfield packing- ' 

 house, and timed a young man, who, with nothing but 

 a small thin knife, opened thirty oysters in a minute. 

 He worked with the precision of a machine, and made 

 six motions for each oyster. One hand took the oys- ' 

 ter from the pile at his side, the other cut the muscle 

 from the upper shell ; a third movement threw the j 

 shell away ; a fourth forced the oyster from the other . 

 shell ; a fifth threw it into a tin bucket, and the second ' 

 shell was thrown aside by the last movement. He was 1 

 very proud of his skill and of the prizes he had taken, 

 and although he seemed to have abundant assurance, 

 he explained that his movements were retarded by 

 his diffidence in the presence of state commissioners, 

 and he said that, when free from embarrassment, he 

 could " shuck" thirty-six oysters a minute. 



The work of closing the shell is done by the muscle, 

 but we must go very much farther in the study of the 

 oyster in order to find why it closes. . It is opened by 

 1* 



