44 



THE OYSTER. 



within recent years, so many cases of typhoid fever 

 have been traced to oysters that this source of danger 

 to the health and life of human beings is now recog- 

 nized and, perhaps, exaggerated by the readers of the 

 newspapers ; although this danger, as well as the dan- 

 ger to the fair fame of our oysters, is real and serious, 

 and increasing with the growth of the cities and towns 

 upon the shores of the Chesapeake Bay and its tribu- 

 taries. 



The danger of the pollution of the open waters of the 

 Bay is slight, and dead organic matter is here quickly 

 oxidized and destroyed by the agitation and aeration of 

 the water by the waves. In my opinion, no one need 

 fear to eat true salt-water oysters raw, but every 

 " fresh-water oyster " and every " fattened oyster " is 

 too dangerous to be eaten raw. 



A menace to health concerns us all, and every citizen 

 should do his part to protect our oysters from the 

 slightest breath of suspicion. A bad name would be 

 the most serious by far of all the obstacles to the devel- 

 opment of a flourishing oyster industry in our waters. 



So long as we use oysters for food, and eat them raw, 

 the whole Bay should be treated as drinking water, for 

 while no one does drink its water, most of us are fond 

 of eating raw oysters. 



Every citizen of Maryland or Virginia should make 

 it his business to put a stop to the discharge of sewage 

 into our waters, and the great cities should take the lead 

 in this and set a good example. 



There is one practice so pernicious and so useless 



