[21] OYSTER CULTURE IN MORBIHAN. J63 
always be taken into account, whenever it is desired to arrive at practi- 
cal results. 
In giving some details concerning the coating of collectors, a method 
now in universal use, we desire to have it understood that, in oyster cul- 
ture, this subject involves a principle, fully as important as those which 
relate to the action of the current and the deposition. of sediment. 
About 1858, a mason of the He de Ré, named Hyacinthe Bouf, pre- 
pared a park with great care, and inclosed it with walls. After having 
filled up the bottom with various materials, and among others straw, he 
was surprised to find that the young oyster, instead of adhering to the 
bottom, preferred the calcareous stones of the inclosure. So he took his 
wall to pieces, stone by stone, and thus obtained a more or less abundant 
harvest. 
At this time, no one investigated the reason why the oysters had shown 
such a preference; the fact was noticed, but nothing further was done. 
Many observers remarked that, upon submarine walls of masonry, con- 
structed with hydraulic cement, even in basins and in places distant 
from oyster banks, there were always found a considerable number of 
oysters, persistently seeking the joints of the masonry. The thing was 
considered as accidental, exceptional, and still, at the same time, nu- 
merous attempts were being made to facilitate the removal of the oysters 
from the tiles, by dipping the collectors in a material, soft enough to 
permit of the oyster being easily removed, and hard enough to offer 
an adhesive surface to the young. 
Dr. Kemmerer, of the Ie de Ré, the veteran oyster culturist, whom Dr. 
Henri Leroux calls the savant, who studies with feet and hands in 
water, was the first to find a remedy for the too persistent adhesion of 
the young oyster to the tile. He began by soaking his tiles in the fol- 
lowing composition: Hydraulic cement, 1 part; water, 4 parts ; defibri- 
nated blood, 1 part. 
The results obtained by the use of this composition were excellent, 
as compared with those resulting from the old misunderstanding. 
Defibrinated blood is not much used, and for those establishments 
scattered along the coast, far from great centers, it is very, difficult to 
obtain. Icfforts were made to dispense with it, and Dr. Kemmerer him- 
self succeeded in making a mixture with lime as a basis. 
In the report which he sent to the fair at Vannes, he expresses him- 
self thus: . 
“« The oyster attaches itself to all natural bodies, but nature cannot 
equal industry. Nature created the oyster beds, and as soon as the de- 
mand for oysters became more pressing, from the increased facility for 
transportation, afforded by our modern means of communication, the 
beds disappeared. 
“The oyster culture of Coste does not, therefore, present the appara- 
tus necessary for the purpose, since it cannot produce the oyster seed. 
‘7 designate as seed the young oysters which, having remained from 
