OYSTERS. 21 



take mine oyster as a proof that once upon a time 

 we did make a step in the direction of a fuller menu; 

 and when one thinks of the endless reiteration of the 

 " beef, pork, mutton," and of the " chop-fish-steak- 

 ham-and-eggs, sir ! " I can only hope (without being 

 a Sybarite) that when we next enlarge our dietary I 

 may be there to see and to partake likewise. 



Our oyster is designated, somewhat unfeelingly, I 

 confess, in natural history text-books, " a headless 

 bivalve." Whether it ever possessed a head or not, 

 the sequel doth not show. I can certainly hie back, 

 if you will, in oyster-history, and trace for you its 

 development ; but even in its early days there is no 

 appearance of a head. Hence it is an inferior crea- 

 ture in this sense to your snail or whelk, which not 

 only possesses a head, but contrives to see a good deal 

 of the world in the course of its somewhat laboured 

 peregrinations. 



The oysters lying in Mrs. Driver's tank this 

 morning are gaping widely enough. You might 

 almost think they had died in the night ; but when 

 you tap the shell ever so lightly you notice how it 

 closes with a somewhat leisurely but highly deter- 

 mined motion. Now, this observation proves two 

 things to the inquiring mind. It shows, first of all, 

 that the bivalve exhibits a quick appreciation of the 

 " tapping at its garden-gate ; " in other words, it is 

 provided with a very distinct nervous system. Then, 

 secondly, you observe that it possesses a powerful 

 n:uscle wherewith the shell is closed. 



Look at the empty valve or shell from which you 

 hare just removed its tenant. You notice the oval im- 

 pression on the inside of the valve showing where the 

 muscle was attached, and you observe on the other and 



