142 Our Food Mollusks 



necessarily inferior to the " shell stock," even when they 

 are to be eaten raw. It is probable that the tissues of 

 an oyster live longer within the shell, though shell stock, 

 also, usually is subjected to the fresh water treatment 

 before being marketed, and it would be a difficult matter 

 to distinguish a difference in the flavor of oysters on the 

 half -shell and those that have been shucked. 



Popular requirements in articles of food are usually 

 arbitrary and without reason. Appearance often seems 

 to be more important than quality or taste. There is a 

 demand for pure rich butter, but few would care to 

 eat it, for pure, rich butter is not bright yellow. Oranges 

 and plums are desired only when they are bright colored 

 and large, which too often means that they are sour and 

 tasteless. Rice must be polished by removing its most 

 nutritious outer parts. Oysters must be bloated and must 

 have their natural salt removed in order readily to be 

 salable. The same is true of a long list of food-stuffs. 



If one were to write a dissertation on the sense of 

 taste, he would have ample room for reflection on the 

 causes and significance of diseased tastes, such as those 

 that are trained to an enjoyment of some fancy foreign 

 cheeses, of partridges and grouse in a state that might 

 be naturally pleasing to a buzzard, or of oysters so cop- 

 pery that one possessing a taste in its naturally innocent 

 state would fear poisoning by them. One curious char- 

 acteristic of persons who possess such tastes is that they 

 sometimes believe themselves to be able to appreciate the 

 most subtle and delicate flavors. Possibly that may be 

 true, but carefully conducted experiments on such sub- 

 jects might prove interesting. Even consumers of oys- 

 ters on the half-shell, possessing normal and unperverted 

 tastes, would probably, with few exceptions, declare 



