Half-a-Century's Spattings. 185 



quantities, we have reduced the complex matter and a lengthened 

 table to the simpler form given below. 



TABULAE VIEW OF 55 OYSTER SPATTING SEASONS WITHIN KENT 



AND ESSEX WATERS. 

 Year. Spat. Year. Spat. Year. Spat. Year. Spat. 



1846. Moderate. 1860. Bad. 1874. Moderate. 1888. Moderate (?). 



1847. (?). 1861. 1875. Good. 1889. , (?). 



1848. (?). 1862. 1876.* 1890. 

 1849.*Good. 1863. 1877. Moderate. 1891. 



1850. 1864. 1878. 1892. 



1851. Bad. 1865. Moderate. 1879. Bad. 1893.*Good 



1852. , 1866. 1880. Good. 1894-. 



1853. 

 1854. 

 1855. 

 1856. 



1867. 1881.* 1895. 



1868. Good. 1882. 1896. 



1869. Moderate. 1883. Moderate (?). 1897. Moderate. 



1870. 1884.*Good. 1898. 



1857. Moderate. 1871. Good. 1885. Moderate (?). 1899. 



1858. Good. 1872. Moderate. 1886. (?). 1900.*Good. 

 1859.* 1873. 1887. (?). 



The asterisks indicate the very good, unusual years ; the 

 notes of interrogation where information has been defective or 

 contradictory. This table may be regarded as only of a tenta- 

 tive kind, not meant as absolutely correct. It is to bo hoped 

 defects may be remedied, for the archives of the oyster com- 

 panies and notes of private individuals may supply information 

 not accessible to the reporter. 



Taking these data for what they are worth, it would appear 

 that during 55 years, 12 of them were seriously bad spatting 

 seasons, either very poor falls or amounting to little short of a 

 total failure at nearly all the stations. With an intercalation of 

 three years 11 ran in succession. Hence occurred the alarm 

 and wail of dredgers, merchants and companies, even the public 

 generally, during the fifties and sixties. Of moderate years 

 there were 26. Among these at some stations the fall was 

 better than at others, that is to say unequally distributed. The 

 really good years numbered 17. Those of 1849, 1859, 1876, 

 1881, 1884, 1893 and 1900 were quite remarkable almost at 

 every station in both counties. 



Why variations in Spatting Seasons. This abundance and 

 scarcity only partially fits Buckland's cycles or periodicity in 



