CLASS V. LAMELLIBRANCHIATA: ORDP^R 2. ASTPHONATA. 527 



THE ST. JAMES COCKLE 



inches long, is common at the mouth of the Connecticut river ; * the P. Islandkus is of a red- 

 dish orange-color, two to three inches long, 

 found on our northern coasts. The P. con- 

 centricus is a small species, and the most 



common alono; the coast of New York. 



THE OSTRACEA. 



We now come to the most important of 

 all the moUusca, in an economical point of 

 view, the Oyster. Mankind appear at an 

 early date to have been acquainted with 

 its delicious flavor. Mr. Cozzens, in liis 

 " Prismatics," suggests the probability that 

 although Adam was the great name-giver of 

 early times, inasmuch as he lived inland, he 

 " never saw the succulent periphery in its 

 native mud ; we may deduce the following 

 reasonable conclusion, viz., that as he never 

 saw it, he probably never named it — no, not 

 to his most intimate friends." In tracina: 

 the history of the oyster in connection with 

 mankind, this author seems to have come 

 to the conclusion that its merits were first discovered in Great Britain — an idea perhaps sug- 

 gested by the well-known fact that British oysters, even so far back as the time of the early 

 emperors, were renowned among the epicures of Rome. The precise details of the discovery are 

 given by this fanciful and humorous writer as follows : 



"Methinks I see the First Oyster-Eater! a brawny, naked savage, with his wild hair mat- 

 ted over his wild eyes, a zodiac of fiery stars tattooed across his muscular breast : unclad, un- 

 sandaled, hirsute, and hungry, he breaks through the underwoods that margin the beach, and 

 stands along upon the sea-shore, with nothing in one hand but his unsuccessful boar-spear, and 

 nothing in the other but his fist. There he beholds a splendid panorama ! The West all aglow, 

 the conscious waves blushing as the warm sun sinks to their embraces, the blue sea on the left, 

 the interminable forest on his right, and the creamy sea-sand curving in delicaie tracery between 

 — a picture and a cliild of nature ! Delightedly he plunges into the foam, and swims to the bald 

 crown of a rock that uplifts itself above the waves. vSeating himself, he gazes upon the calm ex- 

 panse beyond, and swings his legs against the moss that spins its filmy tendrils in the brine. 

 Suddenly he utters a cry, springs up, the blood streaming from his foot. With barbarous fury 

 he tears up masses of sea-moss, and with it clustering families of testacea. Dashing them down 

 upon the rock, he perceives a liquor exuding from the fragments ; he sees the white, pulpy, deli- 

 cate morsel half hidden in the cracked shell, and instinctively reaching upward, his hand finds 

 his mouth, and amid a savage, triumphant deglutition, he murmurs — Oyster ! ! Champing in 

 his uncouth fashion bits of shell and sea-weed with uncontrollable pleasure, he masters this mys- 

 tery of a new sensation, and not until the gray veil of night is drawn over the distant waters, 

 does he leave the rock, covered with the trophies of his victory. 



" We date from this epoch the Maritime History of England. Ere long the reedy cabins of 

 her aborigines clustered upon the banks of beautiful inlets, and overspread her long lines of level 

 beaches, or penciled with delicate wreaths of smoke the savage aspect of her rocky coasts. The 

 sword was beaten into the oyster-knife, and the spear into oyster-rakes. Commerce spread her 

 white wings along the shores of happy Albion, and man emerged at once into civilization from a 



* Connecticut is noted for the excellence of its shad and shell-fish. The " Dragon Oysters," taken in the estuary 

 of Dragon river, near Now Haven are small, but of unrivaled flavor ; unfortunately, the beds are nearly exhausted. 

 The oysters of Norwal are also small, but are among the very best that are known. The scallop may be also found 

 in great perfection at the restaurants of that thriving town. 



