334 DESCRIPTION OF THE OYSTER. [CHAP. vni. 



portion of blubber like the oyster, that could only have been 

 first eaten by some very courageous individual, could have 

 any feeling ? But we know better now, and although the 

 organisation of the mollusca is not of a high order, it is per- 

 fect of its kind, and has within it indications of organs that 

 in beings of a higher type serve a loftier purpose, and point 

 out the beginnings of nature, showing how she works her 

 way from the simplest imaginings of animal life to the com- 

 plex human machine. The oyster has no doubt in its degree 

 its joys and sorrows, and throbs with life and pleasure, as 

 animals do that have a higher organic structure. 



Zoologically the oyster is known as Ostrcea edulis. Its out- 

 ward appearance is familiar to even very landward people, and 

 no human engineer could have invented so admirable a home 

 for the pulpy and headless mass of jelly that is contained within 

 the rough-looking shell. The oyster is a curiously-constructed 

 animal ; but I fear that, comparatively speaking, very few of 

 my readers have ever seen a perfect one, as oysters are very 

 much mutilated, being generally deprived of their beards before 

 they are sent to table, and otherwise hurt, both accidentally in 

 the opening and by use and wont, as in the case of the beard. 

 Its mouth it has no jaws or teeth is a kind of trunk or 

 snout, with four lips, and leafy coverings or gills are spread 

 over the body to act as lungs, and keep from the action of 

 the water the air which the animal requires for its exist- 

 ence. This covering is divided into two lobes with ciliated 

 edges. Four leaves or membranous plates act as capillary 

 funnels, open at the farthest extremities. Behind the gills 

 there is a large whitish fatty part enclosing the stomach and 

 intestines. The vessels of circulation play into muscular 

 cavities, which act the part of the heart. The stomach is 

 situated near the mouth. The oyster has no feet, but can 

 move by opening and closing its shell, and it secures food 

 by means of its beard, which acts as a kind of rake. In 



