THE FIRST OYSTER-EATER. 243 



of the shell itself was probably curious or beautiful, he 

 lifted up the aged "native" for further examination, 

 inserting his finger and thumb within the valves. The 

 irate mollusc, thinking, no doubt, that this was intended 

 as a further insult, snapped its nacreous portcullis close 

 down upon his finger, causing him considerable pain. 

 After relieving his wounded digit, our inquisitive gentle- 

 man very naturally put it in his mouth. " Delightful !" 

 he exclaimed, opening wide his eyes; "what is thisT' 

 And again he sucked his finger. Then flashed upon him 

 the great truth that he had discovered a new pleasure 

 had, in fact, opened up to his fellows a source of im- 

 measurable delight. He proceeded at once to realize the 

 thought. With a stone he opened the oyster's threshold, 

 and warily ventured on a piece of the mollusc itself. 

 " Delicious !" he exclaimed ; and there and then, with no 

 other condiment than its own juice, without the usual 

 accompaniment, as we now take it, of " foaming brown 

 stout " or " pale Chablis " to wash it down and, sooth to 

 say, it requires neither did that solitary, nameless man 

 indulge in the first oyster-banquet ! 



Scientifically speaking, the oyster (Ostrcea edulis) is an 

 acephalous 'mollusc ; so called, because it has no distinct 

 head, and having no head, can have no brain, though, 

 singular to tell, it rejoices in a beard. 



Having no head, it has no organ of sight, no organ of 

 hearing, no organ of smell. Nor has it any organ of loco- 

 motion. It is, therefore, an animal of the simplest 

 organization ; one might almost say, merely the outline 

 or rudiments of an animal. However, it has a large and 

 expansible mouth ; a stomach like a pouch or pocket, 



