CHAP. xxi. OYSTERS. 299 



France, are one-tenth meat ; while the very worst are some 

 Frenchmen, which are as thin and meagre as French pigs." 



Such are some of the points of an oyster. But we 

 nineteenth-century mortals have but little time to observe 

 and consider all the points of even such things as lie very 

 near to our hearts (I speak anatomically, of course) 

 things fit for digestion. I have no doubt that by some, 

 perhaps many of my readers, the "petal of a rose-leaf" 

 and the " Japanese tea-cup " will be dismissed as mere 

 poetry, and that for them the philosophy of oysters may be 

 summed up in the one statement, " the flesh should be white 

 and firm and nut-like in taste ; " that is if nut-like expresses 

 with any due adequacy so pure and concentrated a relish. 



It is perhaps well for us that we are able thus to seize 

 upon the points of real vital importance, and to eschew 

 those which do not immediately concern us. We smooth 

 our shirt-front as we dress for dinner, without concerning 

 ourselves with such questions as to how it came to be 

 woven and stitched together; we step into our cab, and 

 pity the poor devils we pass in the streets, but do not pause 

 to consider their all-too-painful points; we chuckle with 

 our host over the bargain he has driven, without deeming 

 it necessary to inquire what the cheapness of some of our 

 goods involves ; we murmur little prettinesses to our fair 

 partner as we cross the hall, without pretending to realize 

 their meaning, if indeed they have any ; and then we sit 

 down to dinner and swallow our oysters, without any idea 

 of how they came to be raised, and without realizing, 

 perhaps without knowing, that they are complex organized 

 creatures, instinct with life and motion. 



Motion ? Yes, motion. As I write there lies before me, 

 tastefully disposed on its natural dish, an oyster in the form 

 in which it glads the sight of hungry mortals when grace 

 has been said, and they have taken their seats at table. 



