50 THE OYSTER. 



bay in a single season. Far from being an exaggera- 

 tion, this statement is much short of the truth. An 

 average Maryland oyster of good size lays about six- 

 teen million eggs, and if half of these were to develop 

 into female oysters, we should have, from a single 

 female, eight million descendants in the first genera- 

 tion, and in the second eight million times eight million 

 or 64,000,000,000,000. 



In the third generation we should have eight million 

 times this or 512,000,000,000,000,000,000. 



In the fourth, 4,096,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 



In the fifth, 33,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,- 

 000,000 female oysters, and as many males, or, in all, 

 66,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. 



If each oyster fill eight cubic inches of space, it would 

 take 8,CKX),c>oo,ooo,(xx),ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo,ooo to 

 make a mass as large as the earth, and the fifth genera- 

 tion of descendants from a single female oyster would 

 make more than eight worlds, even if each female 

 laid only one brood of eggs. As the oyster lives for 

 many years, and lays eggs each year, the possible rate 

 of increase is very much greater than that shown by 

 the figures. 



The waste of oyster eggs through lack of fertiliza- 

 tion is simply inconceivable, but it is possible to fer- 

 tilize them artificially by mixing the eggs and the 

 male cells in a small quantity of water, where they are 

 certain to come into contact with each other. In this 

 way about 98 per cent of the eggs may be saved and 

 made to produce young oysters, and I have had at 



