1837] 



FARMERS' R E G I S T E R . 



487 



on which the animal feeds. A very common and 

 very mistaken opinion exists, especially among 

 lurei'Z'tiers, that not only lliose, but all Enijii.sh 

 oyslers are impre<rnateti with cop|)er, " vuhich 

 hictalis, Linn.^ which clasps | they get front, feeding off copper banks ;" such 

 R'.ll and perseveres till it has we believe would be quite as irijurio(iS U) the ani- 



nmi itself as it could be to us, ami the fancy can 

 only have arisen from iheslrong flavor peculiar to 

 this fish. Green oysters are comparatively little 

 esleeined in the present day. 



Lse. — The irreat value of this animal is for 

 diet. The shell was at one time supposed to pos- 

 sess peculiar medical properties; but analysis has 

 shown that the only advantatie animal carbonates 

 have over those of the mineral kingdom, arises I'rom 

 their containini^ no metallic or foreiixn substance.* 

 The inhabitants of the shores of Hindooslan did, 

 I wo centuries since, and perhaps still may. use it 

 in the same manner. The fish is recommended 

 by the (lectors where great nourishment and easy 

 ditrestion are required, the valuable quality beinj^ 

 the quantity of L'luten it contains. In the north- 

 eastern parts of England, old houses may be seen 

 with their tops and gable ends ornamented with 

 these shells, only the inside being exposed; a cus- 

 tom which is said, we know nor with what truth, 

 to have been introduced Irom Holland. In some, 

 parts of Scotland the shells are used as manure, 

 and Ibund very excellent and stimulating; in other 

 places they are burned as lime. 



In 1768, Mr. John Canton discovered that a 



very good phosphorus \ couKi be made from 



oyster shells. He added a little sulphur to them, 



men, and they dredge in water from fjur to filteen j and by calcination produced the substance. A 



fathoms dee[). The grec/i oysters are all procured I long account of the process and his experiments 



ceous shells. * The oyster frequently contains 

 shining mtestinal worms, or aifimalcules, which 

 may be seen by opening the shell in the da rk. A 

 most destructive animal in an oyster bed is the 

 eea-slar (^/sterias 

 its rays round the 



sucked out the inhabilant. Another enemy is said 

 to be the nuiscle, (^Myliliis editlis, Linn.) 



F'ishcry. — In both Eiiglaiul ami France the 

 season tor fishing lor tlie oyster is restricted by 

 Jaw. In the lormer country the lime allowed tor 

 collecting the spawn from the sea is May, when 

 the dredgers may take all they can procure; but 

 alter that month, they are liable to be convicted of 

 felony if they disturb it, and only allowed to take 

 such oysters as are the size of h;df a dollar. 

 The spawn, or spat, as it is technically called, is 

 dredged up, and if not too small, they separate it 

 from the shells and stones to which it is adhering, 

 and these they are obliged airain to throw into 

 the water to prevent the beds being destroyed. 

 The spat is thrown into creeks or into shallow 

 water on the shores, to. increase m size and laiten, 

 and in such situations is considered private pro- 

 perty. At Preston Pans the oysters are not bed- 

 ded, but are entirely procureii fi'om the sea, and 

 in dredging, those which are too small are thrown 

 back again. The season begins on the first of 

 September, and lasts till April. The dredgers 

 make use of a peculiar kind of net, which is very 

 strong, and fastened to three spikes of" iron; this 

 they drag along the bottom of the sea, and thus 

 force the oysters into it; each boat requires five 



at or near the neighborhood of Colchester. When 

 they wish to giveihein this color, they throw them 

 into pits duu" about three feet deep in the salt 

 marshes, which are overllooded only at spring 

 tides, and to which they have sluices to let out the 

 salt water till ii be about one and a half feet deep. 

 These pits become green, and communicate their 

 color to the fish \u four or five days, although 

 they commonly let them continue there six weeks 

 or two months, in which time tliey will become 

 a dark green. The color has recently been as- 

 certained to arise from confervfe, and other marine 

 vegetable matter, decayed by the heat of the sun. 



* Professor Rogers doubts the accuracy of this 

 analysis, as regards the quantity of animal matter 

 contained in this shell, ami he supposes that there only 

 exists a very minute portion of gluten. In this opin- 

 ion he states that he is supported by the experiments 

 of Bucholtz and Brandes, and those he himself made 

 on the Ostrea Virgiiiica. What the sliells were which 

 were used by the former gentleman, we are not in- 

 formed; but with all deference we would suggest that 

 he himself seems to have forgotten that the American 

 and British shells are quite distinct species, from 

 which most probably arises the dinerence he has dis- 

 covered, and which instead of proving Mr. Hatchett's 

 experiments to be in the main incorrect, only tends to 

 prove that the species are perfectly distinct, and not 

 mere varieties. The quantity of gluten contained in 

 the ostrea edulis, is well known to even the most su- 

 perficial observer, where the shell is common, and 

 may be found in the large and thick specimens, or on 

 decaying of the shell, between the inner and outer 

 laminae, frequently in great quantities. It is of a dirty 

 yellow color, and thick and clammy in its consis- 

 tency. See yiliiman's American Journal, Vol. xxvi. 

 p. 361. 



IS given in the 'Philosophical Transactions' of 

 that year. The French have a proverb drawn 

 from this animal which they apply to an awk- 

 ward person, "fZ parte, uii joue, ^"c. cumme une 

 huitre a VecaiUe.'''' \ 



Besides these, oysters are found in most coun- 

 tries; the (bllowing are a lijw of the species. 



The West Indies have, according to Hughes, 

 two oyslers, a large one in deep water, which is 

 seldom eaten, and the mangrove oyster, which^ 

 adheres to the roots of the trees in the wash of 

 the tide, whence the old fable of oysters growing 

 on trees. The same are found in Sumatra, where 

 we are told that they are by no means so good as 

 those of Europe. § Round the shores of New 

 South Wales, oysters are extremely plentiful, and 

 though generally small, are of delicate flavor. 

 Every rock is covered with them, and Mr Mar- 

 tyn informs us he has seen parties of young la- 



* Iodine is found in some them. — Ed. 



t So called from its emittine,- light in the dark after 

 exposure to the sun's rays. — Ed. 



I In compiling this article, the following works are 

 those which have chiefly been referred to and quoted 

 from: — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxii. cap. vi. lib, ix. cap. 

 36. Rees' Cyclopaedia, Art. Oyster. McCulloch's 

 Comm. Diet. Art. Oyster. Brewster's Edinburgh 

 Encyclop. Art. Fisheries. Encyclop. Americana, 

 Appendix, vol. viii. Art. Oyster. Postlethwaite's 

 Diction. Art. Oyster. Sinclair's Stat. Hist, of Scot- 

 land, vol. i. p. 358. vol. vi. p. 196 vol. X. p. 202. 

 vol. xvii. pp. 69, 102, &c. Keppel Craven's Tour, p. 

 184. Statistique generale, 8tc. par. P. E. Herbin, 

 vol. i. p. 3S6. Diction.de Trevoux. Philosophical 

 Transactions, vol. viii. 5.51 Iviii. 337, ii. 606, &,c. &c 



§ Marsden'? Hist. Sumatra, p. 121. 



