28 



Thorne, Dr. Bulstrode and Dr. E. Klein has appeared, 

 the concUisions in which very largely agree with and 

 support the results arrived at hy Prof. Boyce and myself. 

 Dr. Bulstrode independently corroborates our account of 

 the " pale green " disease, which he has also met with. 



Oysters are at present being much discussed by the 

 public and are sometimes condemned upon what seem 

 insufficient grounds. Under these circumstances I feel 

 myself justified in drawing up the following remarks of 

 a general nature, addressed to the public, upon : — 

 "Healthy and Unhealthy Oysters." 



It is very important at the present juncture that the 

 public should recognise — both in justice to our famous 

 " Natives " and other fishery industries, and also for their 

 own comfort and* ease of mind — that although some 

 oysters and other shellfish may be liable to convey disease, 

 others, probably most of them, are a healthy and valuable 

 food ; not perhaps a necessity, but certainly in the case of 

 some invalids and convalescents, and to the hard-driven 

 brain worker, an important addition to the diet. The 

 recent oyster scare, or rather succession of scares, must 

 have inflicted an immense amount of injury upon the 

 oyster trade, and have caused much uneasiness and alarm 

 amongst consumers. We can scarcely doubt, however, 

 that the result will be advantageous to all concerned in 

 the end, if only the sanitary authorities and the oyster 

 growers can be induced to act upon the information now 

 being supplied from various laboratories as to the life- 

 processes of the oyster and the possible connection with 

 disease germs. 



The strongly worded Local Government Board Keport 

 which appeared towards the end of 189G, containing 

 reports by the INIedical Officer and others, drew public 

 attention to what had been previously known only to a 



