1 62 THE OYSTER, 



perfectly clear and simple, the greatest ignorance upon 

 this point exists in the minds of our people. 



Certain writers have attributed the destruction of 

 the oysters to disease, like the pious oystermen of 

 Wellfleet, on Cape Cod, who, after they had extermin- 

 ated their oysters by over-fishing, laid their loss upon 

 Providence, which had, they said, punished them for 

 their sins by inflicting a fatal disease upon the inno- 

 cent oysters. 



Some of the explanations of the destruction of the 

 oysters come from persons who have enjoyed such 

 opportunities for observation and study of the subject 

 that broader views might fairly be expected from them. 

 Thus, to explain the disappearance of oysters from 

 the New England coast north of Cape Cod, a well- 

 known conchologist, Dr. Gould, says that he does not 

 believe there were ever any oysters there ; while a very 

 eminent naturalist, Prof Verrill, holds that the climate 

 of New England has undergone a change within the 

 last century or two, and that it is now too cold for 

 oysters, although a few scattered oysters are found 

 there still, and although they are still abundant at some 

 points on the much colder coast of New Brunswick, 

 and although we have the minute accounts which the 

 early settlers have given us of the gradual destruction 

 of their oysters as the population increased. 



We can hardly be surprised that our people should 

 exhibit total ignorance of the true cause of the de- 

 struction, when we recollect that there is not a single 

 word in any of the laws of Maryland which indicates 

 that our legislators are aware that the supply of oysters 

 can be artificially increased, or that there is need for 

 any such increase. 



