Oysters 9 Resting Position. 181 



though Dowker's* examination led him to think it chiefly 

 foraminiferous in character. One thing stands out clear, viz., 

 that there is no lack of pabulum for the oyster within our 

 waters. 



Resting Position. This in oysters has been a keen source of 

 controversy (Field, 1864). Some have maintained the right or 

 flat valve downwards is their natural position, others hold an 

 opposite opinion. Again, observers have found on natural beds 

 the oysters sunk hinge down and the gaping free edges of the 

 valves upwards. Furthermore, it has been asked Does it 

 matter which side they lie on ? This is the experience of the 

 oystermen of Southend foreshore and the Hadleigh Ray : 

 that 'in 19 out of 20 cases the oysters are found resting on 

 their flat shell ;f but after boisterous weather especially wind 

 on-shore many of the oysters may be seen thrown over, lying 

 with the curved valve downwards (Baxter). F. Bridge further 

 remarks that when noticed flat valve uppermost his men very 

 often turn them the other way. Their notion is that when the 

 curved shell is downwards, this more readily fouls by catching 

 up the weed and other stray substances borne along by the ebb 

 and flow of the tide. As to the Portuguese oysters, these as a 

 rule bed themselves in the muddy sand hinge dt>wn, so that the 

 gaping valves are alone freely subject to the streaming tides. 

 Mr. Sibert Saunders, of Whitstable, a keen observer of marine 

 creatures thereabouts, substantially endorses the Leighmen's 

 views. He gives good reasons wherefore the opposite opinions 

 of Huxley, of Cunningham and other authorities may each be 

 so far correct under certain conditions. We may further add 

 that Ryder assures us that in the natural banks of American 

 oysters in the Chesapeake, they there "assume an approxi- 

 mately vertical position " i.e., similar to what occurs with the 

 Portuguese breed in the Ray as above noted. This fact is 

 interesting, inasmuch as the American 0. virginica and 



* Land and Water, Sept., 1880. 



t Fulton's dredging in the Firth of Forth supports this view. 



