14 THE OYSTEE. 



appears to arise from the fact that unconscientious oyster 

 dealers wash the oysters with salt and water in order to 

 give them a better appearance, as they say. 



*' The oyster," says a wi'iter in jS'o. 824 of the 

 *' Family Herald" — that most agreeable of all window- 

 seat books — *'is a species of food combining the most 

 precious alimentary qualities. Its meat is soft, firm, 

 and delicate. It has sufiicient flavour to please the 

 taste, but not enough to excite to surfeit. Through 

 a quality peculiar to itself, it favours the intestinal and 

 gastric absorption, mixing easily with other food ; and, 

 assimilating with the juices of the stomach, it aids and 

 favours the digestive functions. There is no other alimen- 

 tary substance, not even excepting bread, which does not 

 produce indigestion under certain given circumstances, 

 but oysters never. This is a homage due to them. They 

 may be eaten to-day, to-mon'ow, for ever, in profusion ; 

 indigestion is not to be feared, and we may be certain 

 that no doctor was ever called in through their fault. 

 Of course we except cooked oysters. Besides their 

 valuable digestive qualities, oysters supply a recipe not 

 to be despised in the liquor they contain. It is produced 

 by the sea-water they have swallowed, but which, hav- 

 ing been digested, has lost the peculiar bitterness of salt 

 water. This oyster- water is limpid, and slightly saline 

 in taste. Far from being purgative, like sea-water, it 

 promotes digestion. It keeps the oysters themselves 

 fresh, prolongs their life for some time until it is des- 

 troyed in our stomachs, or until the oyster has been 

 transformed into a portion of ourselves." 



The degree of importance which different persons 



