242 On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 
land carriage, and the slowness of sailing vessels in those times, we 
may form some idea of their price, and the height to which luxury 
in eating had attained. In later times they appear to have been 
chiefly used for supper.* That many different species were used is 
probable. Pliny informs us that those from Circeum (Cape Cieceji) 
were black both in the flesh and shell, those from Spain reddish, 
and those from Sclavonia brown and dusky.+ It was supposed that 
the fish fattened during the full moon, and grew thin as it waned ; 
we are not aware that this has been observed in the present day, but 
it may have happened in particular situations, owing to the difference 
in the tides. The Roman epicures were in the habit of icing them 
before eating them, and the ladies used the calcined shell as a cosmetic 
and depilatory. To the doctors this fish was most valuable, being 
recommended in a great variety of diseases, and prepared in various 
ways; and though it could, generally speaking, do no good, it cer- 
tainly could do little harm. 
Modern History—tIn England, the oyster fisheries are chiefly 
carried on at Colchester, in Essex, celebrated for its green oysters, 
at Feversham and Milton in Kent, and in the Isle of Wight. They 
are also fished for in the Swales of the Medway, in the Tenby on 
the coast of Wales, and near Liverpool, as well as around Ports- 
mouth, and in many of the creeks of the southern coast. ‘The best 
are found at Purfleet, the worst near Liverpool. They are very 
plentifully but partially distributed, and are found to extend further 
north on the western than on the eastern side of the island. Ip 
Scotland they also abound but appear likewise to prefer the north- 
eastern to the northwestern coast. While they are every where 
plentiful and highly flavored, from the Clyde to the Zetland, Orkney; 
and Western Islands, it does not appear that they breed higher on the 
other side than in the Firth of Forth. Those on the western shores 
are however comparatively little used, and with the exception of @ 
few sent from Loch Farbert to Greenock, they are consumed by the 
Natives on the spot. Those of the eastern coast, on the contrary, are 
carried to Newcastle upon Tyne, Hull and London, and have been 
exported in large quantities to Holland. The best are procured 
near Preston Pans, Port Seaton, and the Isle of Inchkeith, in Mus- 
selburgh bay, Firth of Forth; and vessels from Milton, Lee, and 
ober parts of England come to dredge for them, and carrying them 
Bieter mes 
» Faogay Sat vi. 301: + Plin. Hist. Nat, lib. ix. cap. 32. 
