234 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



\\>UNG OVSTE11S FURNISHED WITH LOCOMOTIVE ORGANS. 



little Oyster is provided at its birth with 



' The Oyster's mouth is situated between the delicate folds of what is ordinarily called the 



beard, i.e., the breathing organs, and by following down the course of the gullet the stomach can 



easily be found, embedded in the thick part of the 

 body of the Oyster, which is really the liver. It is 

 in the month of June that Oysters mostly spawn ; 

 the 'spat,' as it is called, resembles very fine slate- 

 pencil dust, and the number of spats in one Oyster I 

 find from experiment varies from 829,000 to 276,000 

 individuals. One fine hot day the mother Oyster 

 opens her shell, and the young ones escape from it 

 in a cloud, which may be compared to a puff of steam 

 from a railway engine on a still morning. Each 

 swimming organs, composed of delicate cilia, and 



by means of these the little rascal begins to play about the moment he leaves his mother's 



shell. Unless born in an enclosed water paddock, he swims away with the tide to and fro until he 



dies, or tiiids a rest suitable for him. Oysters, 



in fact, may be said to ' swarm ' like bees, and 



many a bed has been discovered the origin of 



which is attributable to a swarm of Oysters 



having alighted on the spot. 



" The little Oysters, the size of a fourpenny- 



piece to a sixpence, are called ' brood,' the larger 



ai*e called 'half ware,' and these are sold by 



what is called a ' wash,' which contains twenty- 

 one quarts and a pint. These young Oysters 



increase in size by adding to the margin of 



their shell a very delicate layer of a horn-like 



elastic substance, at first almost as thin as gold- 

 beater's skin, but which eventually hardens into 



shell : this is called the ' growth.' In a well- 

 marked native the rings of annual growth are 



plainly perceptible. If the shell be well washed 



the growth will take the markings of a pencil, 



and it will be found that the Oyster is generally in 



his fifth or sixth year before he is thought worthy M l 



of an introduction to London society. <J! 



"Being of a very delicate tender nature, the 



Oyster has a great many difficulties to encounter. One of 



his worst enemies is the 'five finger,' or Star-fish. The 



' five finger ' entwines the Oyster in his deadly grasp, 



and by protruding his elastic stomach eats up the Oyster, 



leaving the empty shells, known as ' clocks.' 



" The next worst enemy is the ' Whelk tingle,' or 



'Dog Whelk.' These rascals, although they look so inno- 

 cent, have the power of boring into the Oyster-shell with 



their rasp-like tongue. The hole this creature makes is cut 



very clean, as if bored by a jeweller's diamond, and they 



often destroy hundreds of pounds' worth of property. He 



who would invent a trap to catch these 'Dog Whelks' 



would indeed be a benefactor to Oyster fishery proprietors. 



" The Oyster is most intolerant of cold and very tolerant of heat. There are no Oysters in the 



Ai'ctic seas ; in all tropical seas they abound, but are not always edible. In the winter season owners 



of Oyster layings watch the weather most carefully, shifting Oysters from the fore-shore into deep 



GROUP OF OYSTERS OF DIFFERENT AGES AT- 

 TACHED TO A BLOCK OF WOOD. 

 A, Oyster of Twelve to Fif'eon Months : n, of Five t<i Six 

 Months; C, of Throe to Four Months; i>, of One to Two 

 Months; K, Twenty Days after Birth. 



