THE OYSTER. 



Cursory remarks. 



bad eating. This is known, on inspection, by 

 the male having a black and the female a milky 

 substance in the gill. 



Oysters are not reckoned proper for the table 

 till they are about a year and half old; so that 

 the brood of one spring are not to be taken fox. 

 sale till at least the September twelve months 

 afterward. When younger than these happen 

 to be caught in the dredge, they are always 

 thrown into the sea again. The fishermen know 

 the age of oysters by the broader distances or 

 interstices among the rounds or rings of the con- 

 vex shell. 



The oysters in the pits of course always lie 

 loose, but on their native beds they are in gene- 

 ral fixed (from the time they are cast) by .their 

 under shell ; and their goodness is said to be 

 materially affected by their being laid in the pits 

 with the flat shell downward, not being able iu 

 this position to retain sufficient water in the shell 

 for their support. 



It is asserted by the French, but apparently 

 without proof, that the English oysters, which 

 are esteemed the best in Europe, were originally 

 procured from Concalle Bay, near St. Male. 



The oyster fishery of our principal coasts is 

 regulated by a court of admiralty. In the month 

 of May the fishermen are allowed to take the 

 oysters, in order to separate the spawn from the 

 quitch, the latter of which is thrown in aguia 

 to preserve the bed fot the futare. After ibi* 



