342 THE FIRST OYSTER-EATER. [CHAP. MIL 



perfectly able to transport themselves from one place to 

 another, by simply causing the sea-water to enter and emerge 

 suddenly from between their valves ; and these they use with 

 extreme rapidity and great force. By means of the operation 

 now described, the oyster is enabled to defend itself from its 

 enemies among the minor Crustacea, particularly the small 

 crabs, which endeavour to enter the shell when it is half open. 

 " Some naturalists," the Abbe says, " go the length of allowing 

 the oyster to have great foresight," which he illustrates by an 

 allusion to the habits of those found at the sea-side. " These 

 oysters," he says, " exposed to the daily change of tides, ap- 

 pear to be aware that they are likely to be exposed to dryness 

 at certain recurring periods, and so they preserve water in 

 their shells to supply their wants when the tide is at ebb. 

 This peculiarity renders them more easy of transportation to 

 remote distances than those members of the family which are 

 caught at a considerable distance from the shore." 



But oysters have their social as well as their natural and 

 economic history. The name of the courageous individual 

 who ate the first oyster has not been recorded, but there is a 

 legend concerning him to the following effect : Once upon 

 a time it must be a prodigiously long time ago, however 

 a man of melancholy mood, who was walking by the shores 

 of a picturesque estuary, listening to the monotonous mur- 

 mur of the sad sea-waves, espied a very old and ugly oyster, 

 all coated over with parasites and sea-weeds. It was so 

 unprepossessing that he kicked it with his foot, and the ani- 

 mal, astonished at receiving such rude treatment on its own 

 domain, gaped wide with indignation. Seeing the beautiful 

 cream-coloured layers that shone within the shelly covering, 

 and fancying the interior of the shell itself to be beautiful, he 

 lifted up the aged "native" for further examination, inserting 

 his finger and thumb within the shells. The irate mollusc, 

 thinking no doubt that this was meant as a further insult, 



