THE OYSTER. 197 
higher class of animals. In the case of the former we swallow 
the whole animal, scarcely thinking of its animal nature. It is 
a denizen of another element; it lives in a medium in which we 
cannot exist; it presents itself in a form we may call degraded ; it 
has an obscure vitality, motions undecided, and habits scarcely 
discernible. We may, therefore, witness the oyster mutilated— 
mutilate it ourselves—crush it, and swallow it, without a passing 
pang, or yet a feeling of remorse, and without laying ourselves 
open to the charge of cruelty. 
It is an open question whether it be judicious to enter into the 
details of the anatomical structure of the oyster; for, generally, 
when we dissect an animal it certainly does not improve our relish 
in eating it; and, moreover, zoologists who know—er professo—the 
anatomical structure of the mollusk, tell us they try to forget their 
knowledge when they are eating oysters. This is the reason why 
we have introduced, with some little hesitation, into our work 
any structural details of these celebrated, though badly-treated, 
bivalves. But we warn the reader, if he is about to indulge in an 
oyster supper, not to read the description we are giving, lest by 
any chance it should blunt the edge of his appetite. 
Suppose, then, we have before us a fat oyster, fresh and well 
opened, lying in its concave valve. A glance shows us that the 
animal is flat, compact, soft, somewhat transparent, and of 
a greyish colour. Its shape may be described to be an oval, one 
end of which has been cut off. The curved line which lies to the 
left is the front of the creature, and that to the right, which is 
much straighter, is its back. Its upper part is slightly puffed out, 
as a pad, and approaches a quadrilateral shape. 
The skin which encloses the oyster is the mantle; it is very 
thin, and so large that it pleats itself into folds, making two distinct 
tucks—if the ladies will lend the word for descriptive purposes— 
which run round the greater part of the circumference ; the beard 
is the fringe of the mantle. The mantle may be compared to 
a cape, whose upper part is attached to the oyster near the 
hinges of the valves. Its edges are ornamented with a fringe 
of cilia; on the interior edge there is only one row of cilia; 
but on the outer edge, which is pleated and festooned, there are 
