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of the oyster. We have already noticed in this Journal 

 the oyster which has long been in use at Arcachon, 

 Auray, Cancale, and other centres of the oyster indus- 

 try in France. The French oyster- nurseries have for 

 many years been conspicuously successful; and the 

 owners of private beds do on the Scotch, English, and 

 Irish coasts have imported large quantities of French 

 oysters and laid them down on their own concessions. 

 But the experiments of Mr. Bouchou-Brandely point 

 to a revolution in French oyster culture. Hitherto, 

 the ordinary oyster has been the chief object of solici- 

 tude. Its habits have been carefully studied, and its 

 healthy development strenuously aimed at. The ap- 

 pearance and the steady increase of the Portuguese 

 oyster in some of the French beds was viewed with 

 considerable apprehension, for fear it should prove 

 victorious in the struggle for existence, and the com- 

 mon oyster become an extinct species. It was, too, 

 greatly feared that the ordinary oyster would become 

 hybrid or would at any rate lose its superior qualities 

 by being crossed by the Tagus oyster. Happily, 

 however, those theories have been exported. Not only 

 has a cross-breed never been hitherto found, but it is 

 now conclusively decided to be impossible. Various 

 attempts at hybridation by artificial means have been 

 made during the last two years but without anything 

 except a negative result. It has, however, been satis- 

 factorily ascertained that the presence of Portuguese 

 oysters in the waters of Arcachon and elsewhere has 



