OYSTERS. 23 



the oyster (otherwise the " beard "), with their count- 

 less cilia, which waft in currents of water perpetually 

 for food and breathing, and as perpetually sweep out 

 these currents laden with the waste of the molluscan 

 body. But perchance I have said enough to convince 

 you that the oyster-shop exhibits many interesting 

 problems in science in the contents of its tanks ; and 

 to suggest that, as oysters contribute largely to the 

 material nutrition of mankind, they may also be found 

 not less wholesome when regarded from an intellectual 

 point of view. 

 3 



