ii OYSTERS IN BAY OF ARCACHON. 937 
“Now, let us at once declare that these numerous, implacable, and 
bitter enemies are not to be feared; they neither increase nor diminish— 
they are always the same, to-morrow as to-day, as yesterday ; they will 
devour in vain, for they will be powerless to stop the prodigious multi- 
plication of the oyster. 
‘‘Their number can only be compared to the grains of sand on the 
sea-shore, yet the spat is infinitely more numerous. 
“‘ Moreover, every imaginable means that could be used against these 
enemies would be illusory and powerless. It is in vain to struggle 
against a natural law. 
‘“The evil does not exist.” 
In 1866 when the above lines were written, this theory might perhaps 
have been admissible, and it was possible for an oysterculturist to ex- 
press himself thus; but now, in 1876, the progress and extent of oyster- 
culture, the invention of the covering for collectors, and of preservative 
boxes, are the most direct refutations that we can array against the 
passage quoted. In order fully to convince the reader and to 
prove to him that we are right, we will say a few words concerning 
the boxes and their use. M. Michelet calls his boxes ambulances os- 
tréophiles, their principal object being to serve as infirmaries for the 
oysters that may have been injured by the knife of the clumsy detroca- 
trix ; and by isolating them, to permit them to repair the damage done 
to their shells. After remaining for a few days in these reparative boxes, 
the oysters are thrown into basins called claires, where they grow until 
the time for selling arrives, when, leaving their protective asylum, they 
go to enrich the tables of the epicures of Europe and America, who, 
when tasting them, little think of the amount of care and labor which 
they cost their producers before reaching the palace of the gastronomer. 
cC-2THE PORTUGUESE OYSTER FROM A COMMERCIAL 
AND OYSTERCULTURAL POINT OF VIEW. 
-§ The Portuguese oyster has already become of great importance as an 
article of food and of commerce. 
Not long ago Messrs. Garrelon, Grenier and Dasté, oysterculturists of 
the basin of Arcachon, all of whom are now known as maritime 
culturists at the head of the basin, were engaged in its cultivation on a 
large scale, and derived great profit therefrom. Several have been so 
pleased with their success in this line that they have said to me within 
a few days, “if the Portuguese Government would send us a few car- 
goes of oysters, we could, after selling them, give them a fair share of 
the profits.” These words, which are from very competent oystercul- 
turists, demonstrate sufficiently, that in spite of its detractions the Por- 
tuguese oyster is sold in large quantities and with profit, since the 
great quantity raised is insufficient to meet the demands of its numer- 
ous consumers. 
