Transactions. 79 



them, a great fall of spat naturally takes pla'-e ; but where 

 the spat falls is a matter over which we have very little control. 

 Mr Armistead explained, by means of diagrams, various methods 

 adopted to intercept the spat ; but observed that it was a great 

 game of chance. Many other shell-fish, he explained, have a 

 muscular foot, by which they may travel about, but the oyster has 

 no means of locomotion, so that wherever it falls there it must 

 remain, whether it is a suitable place or not. There are a great 

 many places where oysters are found on this coast — on the coast 

 of Col vend, of Rerrick, in Wigtown Bay, in Luce Bay, and the 

 oysters of Lochryan are famous. We found nature producing 

 them close upon our shores. They increased enormously when 

 let alone ; and it was only undue and improper fishing which 

 impoverished the beds. The star fish and the whelk were 

 mentioned as destructive enemies of the oyster. Reference was 

 made to the great extent to which oyster culture is carried on in 

 France, the lecturer mentioning a report that on one day when 

 the tide ebbed to an unusually low point in the Bay of Arcachou 

 no fewer than 8500 people went down to pick up the oysters, and 

 they collected in three hours — >vhile the tide was out — about forty 

 millions. These were put down on the little oyster farms into 

 which the bay is divided, to be reared until their value was 

 probably doubled. It was a mistake to suppose that oyster 

 culture could be undertaken at very little expense. The cost of 

 properly preparing the ground was about £200 an acre. Mussels 

 might be cultivated in much the same way and more easily, and 

 were cultivated largely on some parts of the coast. Anyone on 

 the Solway could grow any quantity of mussels in a short time by 

 just putting stakes into the sand and letting them remain. In a 

 few years they became mussel beds. Mussel spat rested upon 

 them and grew upon them. Some of the finest mussels he had 

 ever seen were grown on the old wrecks on Barnhourie and else- 

 where in the Solway. He hoped to see those who lived on the 

 coast endeavour to replace the oysters where mussels have taken 

 their place. 



