280 FOUNDERS OF OCEANOGRAPHY 



less precarious. Perhaps the nearest approach to cultiva- 

 tion of a marine product, and of the fisherman reaping what 

 he has sown, is seen in the case of the oyster and mussel 

 industries on the west coast of France, and of these I shall 

 now give a short account from notes made on a personal 

 visit some thirty years ago. 



Oyster-culture is spread over a number of centres from 

 Arcachon in the south to Brittany and the Channel in the 

 north, and may be conveniently divided into the capture 

 and rearing of the very young oysters, or " spat," which 

 takes place at Arcachon and elsewhere, and the fattening 

 and preparing the full-grown shellfish for the market, which 

 is seen at Marennes and other centres farther north. 



Arcachon, on the west coast, a httle south of Bordeaux, 

 is notable for the large shallow bay, or inland sea, shut 

 off from the ocean outside by a long bar of sand, in which 

 is a single narrow opening through which the tide runs 

 strongly. At low tide a large area of the bay is dry, and 

 this is occupied by oyster-farms, the only evidence of which 

 at high water is the rows of saplings marking the boundaries 

 of submerged fields. As the tide falls, fields, banks, ditches, 

 sluices, spat-collectors and young oyster-ambulances all 

 make their appearance ; and the oyster-culturists, men, 

 women and children, troop out from the town and may 

 be seen for the next few hours, some in boats proceeding 

 along the water-ways, others wading in the fields inspecting 

 their stock, collecting and shifting, removing enemies of 

 the precious oyster, and performing other necessary opera- 

 tions. It reminds one of market-gardening and working 

 on allotments, and it is a busy scene until the rising tide 

 drives the workers from their farms back to the town. 

 Plate XXV shows two views on different parts of an oyster 

 pare at low tide. 



The bay of Arcachon is, from its natural features, a 

 splendid rearing-ground for immense quantities of young 

 oysters. The old breeding oysters produce their free-swim- 



