THE OYSTER. 45 



In the third generation we should have eight million 

 tfmes this or 512,000,000,000,000,000,000. //^ 



In the fourth, 4,096,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. ^.^ 



In the fifth, 33,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,- %^ 

 000,000 female oysters, and as many males, or, in all, 

 66,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. -3 -3 



Now, if each oyster fill eight cubic inches of space, 

 it would take 8,ooD,ODO,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,- // 

 000,000 to make a mass as large as the earth, and the 

 fifth generation of descendants from a single female 

 oyster would make more than eight worlds, even if 

 each female laid only one brood of eggs. As the 

 oyster lives for many years, and lays eggs each year, 

 the possible rate of increase is very much greater than 

 that shown by the figures. 



The waste of oyster eggs through lack of fertiliza- 

 tion is simply inconceivable, but it is possible to fer- 

 tilize them artificially by mixing the eggs and the 

 male cells in a small quantity of water, where they are 

 certain to come into contact with each other. In this 

 way about 98 per cent of the eggs may be saved and 

 made to produce young oysters, and I have had at 

 one time in a small tumbler of water a number of 

 active and healthy oysters, greater, many times, than 

 the whole human population of Maryland. ^^ 



If several oysters are opened during the breeding 

 season, which varies according to locality and climate, 

 as will hereafter be shown, a few will be found with 

 the reproductive organ greatly distended and of a 

 uniform opaque-white color. These are oysters which 

 are spawning or ready to spawn, that is, to discharge 

 their eggs. Sometimes the ovaries are so gorged 



