via INTRODUCTION. 



scientific enough to be accurate, not so scientific as to 

 be hard" of understanding, the life-history of the bivalve. 

 The oyster's exposure to infantile dangers, its pre- 

 ferred home, its dietary habits, its susceptibility of 

 culture, its wonderful fecundity, are vividly portrayed. 

 Indeed, this modest volume is at once a memoir in 

 natural history and a chapter of political economy. 



Daniel C. Oilman. 



Office of" the President of the 



Johns Hopkins University, 

 April 14, 1891. 



