﻿[37] 
  A 
  SYSTEM 
  OF 
  OYSTEE 
  CULTUEE. 
  417 
  

  

  the 
  ponds 
  much 
  better 
  success 
  has 
  been 
  had 
  in 
  obtaining 
  a 
  good 
  set 
  of 
  

   spat. 
  

  

  V. 
  At 
  Wood's 
  Holl 
  a 
  very 
  interesting 
  observation 
  was 
  made 
  this 
  sea- 
  

   son, 
  demonstrating 
  the 
  ability 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  to 
  affix 
  itself 
  to 
  a 
  foreign 
  

   body 
  the 
  second 
  time, 
  or 
  long 
  after 
  the 
  animal 
  has 
  passed 
  the 
  ordinary 
  

   spat 
  or 
  first 
  fixed 
  stage 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  year. 
  While 
  the 
  writer 
  was 
  engaged 
  in 
  

   artificially 
  fertilizing 
  eggs, 
  the 
  small 
  oysters 
  and 
  shells 
  left 
  over 
  were 
  

   thrown 
  back 
  into 
  the 
  ponds, 
  in 
  which 
  a 
  large 
  series 
  of 
  wooden 
  collectors 
  

   made 
  of 
  lath 
  was 
  placed 
  near 
  the 
  bottom, 
  resting 
  upon 
  stringers, 
  and 
  

   weighted 
  down 
  with 
  bricks. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  oysters 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  

   thrown 
  into 
  the 
  pond 
  as 
  described 
  fell 
  upon 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  bricks 
  edgewise. 
  

   As 
  this 
  oyster 
  grew 
  very 
  rapidly 
  afterwards, 
  and 
  was 
  in 
  a 
  favorable 
  

   position 
  for 
  fixation, 
  as 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  lower 
  or 
  left 
  valve 
  was 
  ex- 
  

   tended, 
  it 
  for 
  the 
  second 
  time 
  glued 
  itself 
  firmly 
  to 
  the 
  surface 
  of 
  the 
  

   brick. 
  This 
  is 
  the 
  first 
  instance 
  of 
  the 
  kind 
  which 
  has 
  fallen 
  under 
  my 
  

   observation. 
  If 
  similar 
  observations 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  by 
  others 
  I 
  am 
  

   not 
  aware 
  of 
  any 
  published 
  accounts 
  of 
  them. 
  It 
  is 
  therefore 
  deemed 
  

   very 
  important 
  that 
  this 
  observation 
  should 
  be 
  recorded, 
  inasmuch 
  as 
  

   it 
  has 
  recently 
  been 
  questioned 
  whether 
  the 
  oyster 
  fixes 
  itself 
  by 
  the 
  

   left 
  valve 
  at 
  all. 
  

  

  VI. 
  In 
  a 
  late 
  number 
  of 
  Nature, 
  October 
  22, 
  1885, 
  p. 
  597, 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  T. 
  

   Cunningham, 
  under 
  the 
  caption 
  of 
  " 
  The 
  resting 
  position 
  of 
  oysters," 
  

   makes 
  the 
  extraordinary 
  announcement 
  that 
  Woodward, 
  Jeffrey, 
  and 
  

   Huxley 
  were 
  wrong 
  in 
  asserting 
  that 
  the 
  oyster 
  rests 
  on 
  and 
  affixes 
  it- 
  

   self 
  by 
  the 
  left 
  valve. 
  I 
  am 
  now 
  in 
  a 
  position 
  to 
  state 
  with 
  positive 
  cer- 
  

   tainty 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  invariably 
  the 
  left 
  valve 
  of 
  the 
  fry 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  which 
  

   becomes 
  affixed 
  to 
  a 
  foreign 
  object. 
  I 
  have 
  examined 
  thousands 
  of 
  very 
  

   young 
  adherent 
  spat, 
  ranging 
  in 
  size 
  from 
  one-ninetieth 
  of 
  an 
  inch 
  to 
  2 
  

   inches 
  in 
  diameter, 
  and 
  have 
  never 
  found 
  an 
  exception 
  to 
  this 
  rule. 
  Be- 
  

   sides 
  the 
  positive 
  statements 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  effect 
  made 
  by 
  Huxley 
  and 
  

   others, 
  I 
  would 
  refer 
  the 
  reader 
  to 
  a 
  brief 
  paper 
  by 
  myself, 
  entitled 
  "On 
  

   the 
  mode 
  of 
  fixation 
  of 
  the 
  fry 
  of 
  the 
  oyster" 
  (Bull. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Fish 
  Commis- 
  

   sion, 
  Vol. 
  II, 
  1882, 
  pp. 
  383-387); 
  but 
  I 
  must 
  caution 
  the 
  reader 
  that 
  

   Figs. 
  3 
  to 
  8 
  were 
  reversed 
  through 
  an 
  unfortunate 
  oversight, 
  as 
  the 
  

   apices 
  of 
  the 
  umbones 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  larval 
  shells 
  figured 
  on 
  page 
  387 
  should 
  

   be 
  directed 
  to 
  the 
  left 
  instead 
  of 
  to 
  the 
  right 
  side. 
  Otherwise 
  these 
  

   figures 
  are 
  accurate. 
  This 
  blunder 
  of 
  the 
  artist 
  is 
  pointed 
  out 
  in 
  the 
  

   explanation 
  to 
  Plate 
  LXXV, 
  where 
  the 
  figures 
  from 
  the 
  above-cited 
  no- 
  

   tice 
  are 
  reproduced 
  in 
  my 
  paper 
  entitled 
  "A 
  sketch 
  of 
  the 
  life-history 
  

   of 
  the 
  oyster," 
  which 
  forms 
  Appendix 
  II 
  to 
  "A 
  review 
  of 
  the 
  fossil 
  os- 
  

   treidse 
  of 
  North 
  America,"* 
  by 
  Charles 
  A.White, 
  M. 
  D., 
  and 
  Prof. 
  An- 
  

   gelo 
  Heilprin. 
  In 
  another 
  paper 
  of 
  mine, 
  "The 
  metamorphosis 
  and 
  

   post-larval 
  stages 
  of 
  the 
  oyster" 
  (Eeport 
  U. 
  S. 
  Fish 
  Commissioner, 
  Part 
  

   X, 
  1882, 
  p. 
  784), 
  Fig. 
  2 
  shows 
  the 
  larval 
  shell 
  L 
  of 
  the 
  young 
  spat 
  in 
  nor- 
  

  

  * 
  Published 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Fourth 
  Annual 
  Eeport 
  of 
  the 
  Director 
  of 
  the 
  U. 
  S. 
  Geologi- 
  

   cal 
  Survey 
  for 
  1882-'83, 
  4to, 
  pp. 
  275-430, 
  and 
  including 
  Plates 
  XXXIV-LXXXII. 
  

   Washington, 
  1884. 
  

  

  S. 
  Mis. 
  70 
  27 
  

  

  