85 



so tightly shutting his shells, he caught both mice by their 

 heads, and in that position they were found and preserved 

 by a well-known gentleman whose veracity is beyond 

 doubt. These two mice were not as fortunate as the cat 

 and two kittens shown in a picture painted by H. H. 

 Cauldery, hung in the gallery of Nottingham Castle. 

 Having climbed on to a table they are seen rapidly 

 devouring a dozen oysters, evidently opened ready for their 

 master's supper. 



It may be noted that the edible oyster 

 Pear s. c j Qes occas i nally contain a small pearl, 



but of no particular commercial value. I hear that tiny 

 pearls are quite commonly found in mussels. The same 

 reason that causes an oyster to secrete a pearly substance 

 round an irritating atom of grit, enables it to construct a 

 pearly wall inside its shell to prevent further encroachment 

 of any object which obtains firm lodgment round the 

 internal edges. 



In his History of Agriculture and Prices 

 Prices of Oysters. /;/ Eng!illlli> from'i2 59 to 1702, Professor 



Rogers gives carefully compiled tables of prices at which 

 oysters were obtained in various parts of England, though I 

 do not find \Vhitstable oysters mentioned in any way. 

 Most of the prices in question were obtained from the roll 

 of Thorney, in Sussex, and Sharpness, Sharpness then being 

 a manor attached to Battle Abbey. In 1273 oysters appear 

 to have been bought at the rate of id. per hundred, this 

 being the earliest mention of price. In Kent, oysters seem 

 to have been sold by the bushel, and the earliest reference 

 to oysters from that county probably from Whitstable or 

 the near neighbourhood is in 1388, when the price was 8d. 

 per bushel : though in 1393 a lower price is recorded, viz., 



