72 OYSTERS. 



is found between this muscle and the mass of the viscera, where 

 it is readily distinguished by the brown colour of its auricle ; the 

 mouth is concealed under a sort of hood, formed by the union of 

 the upper portion of the two lobes of the mantle; the tentacles, 

 which surround this opening, closely resemble the branchiae, 

 which are large and cover the whole abdomen; and the anus is 

 seen above the muscle. All these mollusks have an ovary and 

 produce eggs, which, at the time of laying, are extremely small 

 and suspended in a whitish liquid, the appearance of which is 

 analogous to that of minute drops of tallow. This spawn 

 floats on the water and soon adheres to neighbouring shells or 

 some other submarine body : and the young oysters are always 

 adherent, either to each other or to an adult oyster or to the rocks 

 on which they live ; but, in the first case, they generally detach 

 themselves as they advance in age, and form extensive masses 

 which are called beds or banks. Their growth is very rapid. 

 We are assured that at the end of three months after being 

 spawned, they are of the size of a quarter of a dollar, and at 

 the end of the first year, they are about two inches in diame- 

 ter ; and in three years they attain to about three inches in 

 length. Nothing is precisely known of the duration of their 

 existence. 



7. Many species of oysters are described : the most interest- 

 ing and most extensively diffused is the Ostrea ednlis — the 

 edible oyster ; it affords us a wholesome and agreeable article of 

 diet, and its consumption has been immense since the remotest 

 antiquity. These mollusks are ordinarily found in great 

 numbers together, forming beds of considerable extent, situate 

 near sea coasts, in bays or estuaries, or in localities where 

 the sea is not very deep. They are objects of active pursuit, 

 and are caught by means of a kind of rake with a net attach- 

 ed, called a drag, or dredge, which is drawn over the oyster- 

 bed ; or where the water is shallow, they are taken up by long 

 tongs of a suitable formation : in France, after being caught they 

 are not immediately consumed, but are placed (planted out) 

 in particular basins, where they are kept for a time, and where they 

 fatten and acquire a more delicate flavour. The largest are 

 usually taken from the shell and pickled ; but the others are 

 eaten without preparation, and are esteemed by many only 

 while alive. In fact their preservation for any length of time 

 is prevented by the habit these animals have of closing the 

 shell as soon as they are taken out of the water. When dead 

 their shell remains open. 



7. How are oysters caught 1 



