52 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. 



natural condition would take up water enough in "floating" to 

 increase their bulk to nearly or quite six quarts, but the six 

 quarts of floated oysters would contain a trifle less of actual 

 nutrients than the five quarts not floated. 



The gain of water and loss of salts is evidently due to osmose. 

 The more concentrated solution of salts in the body of the ani- 

 mal as taken from salt water, passes into the more dilute solu- 

 tion (fresher water) in which it is immersed, while a larger 

 amount of the fresher water at the same time enters the body. 

 But part of the exchange and especially that by which other 

 materials, namely fat, carbohydrates, protein, &c., are given off 

 in small quantities, is more probablv due to a special secretorv 

 action. There is thus a very interesting parallelism between 

 these processes of secretion and osmose (dialvsis) in the oyster 

 and those in the bodies of higher animals, including man, by 

 which the digested food is carried through the walls of the ali- 

 mentary canal into the blood. 



The flavor of oysters is improved by tlie removal of the salts 

 in floating and they are said to bear transporting and to keep 

 better. When therefore the oyster-man takes "good fat oysters " 

 which " yields five quarts of solid meat to the bushel " and floats 

 them so that "they will yield six quarts to the bushel " and thus 

 has an extra quart of the largest and highest priced oysters, to 

 sell, he offers his customers no more nutritive material — indeed, 

 a very little less — than he would have in the five quarts if he 

 had not floated them. But many people prefer the flavor of the 

 floated oysters and since they buy them more for the flavor than 

 for the nutriment, doubtless very few customers would complain 

 if they understood all the facts. And considering that the prac- 

 tice is very general and the prices are regulated by free compe- 

 tition, the watering of ovsters by floating in the shell, perhaps, 

 ought not to be called fraudulent. But rather than pronounce 

 upon this and other questions suggested by the above consider- 

 ations, I should prefer to leave them to the Association for 

 discussion. 



