x Contents 



Chapter XI 

 BIVALVES IN RELATION TO DISEASE 



PAGE 



Typhoid fever — Sources of infection — Contamination of 

 water over oyster or clam beds — How bivalves strain 

 disease organisms from large quantities of sea water — 

 Need of caution in eating uncooked bivalves — Danger in 

 the freshening process — How it may be prevented — 

 Safety rests largely on the demands of the consumer . 166 



Chapter XII 



THE NORTHERN OYSTER FIELD— HISTORICAL 



Natural oyster beds north of Cape Cod — Kitchen middens in 

 north New England — The Damariscotta shell heap — His- 

 torical records — Why natural oyster beds have disap- 

 peared — Early extent of natural beds in New England 

 and New York — Cause of the depletion of the natural 

 beds — The beginnings of oyster culture in America — 

 Early laws governing the oyster industry — Lease and 

 sale of bottoms — The fear of monopolies — The futility 

 of the close season 174 



Chapter XIII 



PRESENT CONDITIONS IN THE NORTHERN 

 FIELD 



American and European oysters compared — The use of 

 southern seed — Oyster laws — The old method of local 

 control — The new method — Surveys of barren bottoms as 

 well as of natural beds — Definition of a natural bed — 

 Incontestible titles and the settlement of disputes — Other 

 features of present Connecticut oyster laws — Direct 

 revenue plan not in favor — Activities on Long Island 

 Sound — Deep water culture — Mergers — Monopoly — Work 

 during the summer — Northern markets 186 



Chapter XIV 



THE CHESAPEAKE 



Historical — Record of the oyster industry fragmentary — 

 Origin of the present packing business in Maryland — In 

 Virginia — Estimated production of the Chesapeake in 

 half a century — Belief that the supply was inexhaustible 

 — Special Maryland Oyster Commission of 1882 — Report 

 of Professor Brooks — Destruction of the 'natural beds 

 by excessive dredging — Record of the decline of the in- 



