•)28 MOLL use A. 



nomadic stato. I'Vom tliis poopli' arose ihc iiiiixlity nation of Ostragoths; from the Ostraphagi 

 of aiififiit Mritaiii cariie the custom of ostracism — that is, sending political delinquents to that 

 piat-i" where they can get no more oysters." 



Thus the oyster has its literature, and however deficient in wit itself, it is certainly the occa- 

 sion of wit in others. The positive history of this mollusk goes back to the refined Athenians, 

 wli,. Iield it in liii,di esteem as dainty food. The Romans also prized it, and as early as the 

 second century they had adopted the practice of cultivating it in beds. Great Britain, so re- 

 m:irkal)le for its other fisheries,* excels all European countries in the production of oysters. 

 Tliey are found on most of the British and Irish shores, but those of Essex and Sutfolk are es- 

 teemed the best. There arc numerous artificial beds, where immense quantities are fed and fat- 

 tened. The oysters are of various sizes and qualities, owing to difterence of treatment and local- 

 ity. Those on the coast of France, especially those of Dieppe, as well as many of the British 

 oysters, have a greenish tinge, and also a coppery taste ; it has been supposed, therefore, that they 

 were impregnated with copper. This has been shown to be a mistake : the green color is caused 

 by the oysters feeding on minute plants called confervoe, which grow in certain localities. The 

 coppery taste is natural to the European species, and is esteemed a relishing quality to those 

 who are accustomed to it. Americans are at first disgusted with it. In Europe the oyster is 

 rarely cooked, but is served raw, it being esteemed not only more wholesome, but of higher 

 relish in this condition. 



All the species of oysters are hermaphrodite, as is also the fact in respect to the conchifcra, 

 or bivalve moUusks, generally. With a microscope immense numbers of the young oysters, 

 with their shells, may be discovered in the parents — three to five thousand in each. When 

 pi-oduced these arc called .spais ; when quite small, they are taken and placed in the planting 

 beds; in eighteen months they are fit for use. The spawning takes place in May, after which, 

 for a time, the oysters are sick, and unfit for food. The young oyster usually fixes itself to 

 some rock, and remains stationary for life ; some, however, are free. These can move by a 

 power of contraction in the foot. Oysters breathe by means of branchiae or gills. They draw 

 the water in at their mouth, which is a small opening in the upper part of the body, drive 

 it down a long canal that constitutes the base of the gills, and so out again, retaining the air for 

 the necessary functions of the body. Thus their ejecting the water seems to serve the double 

 purpose of aiding the motion of such as are free, and of supplying the animals with air. Oysters 

 fix themselves on the left side, which is the deep or concave side of the shell ; in this manner 

 they repose. The two shells, as in other bivalves, are connected by a powerful ligament, called 

 the adductor muscle. By this they open and close the valves; when the animal dies this muscle 

 becomes relaxed, and the shells gape open. 



It is a question which often arises, how can the oysters, scallops, and other shell-fish which 



* There is nothing more remarkable in the natural condition of Great Britain than the amazing abundance of 

 fishes which haunt its waters. Gosse says : " The amount they contribute to the public wealth is immense, and they 

 are regulated, even in many minute details, by repeated enactments of solemn legislation. An enumeration of the 

 species which form the objects of our fisheries is itself startling — the surmullet, gurnards of half a dozen kinds, sea- 

 bream, mackerel, scad, dory, atherine, gray mullet of two kinds, gar-fish, salmon, herring, pilchard, shad, cod, had- 

 dock, pout, whiting of two kinds, pollack, hake, ling, burbot, torsk, turbot, halibut, solo, flounder, plaice, dab, eels 

 of three species, conger, thornback, skate of several kinds— are all taken in quantities and brought regularly to 

 market, not to speak of many other kinds, such as perch, trout, char, pike, carp, tench, &c., which are taken 

 for the table, chiefly from our rivers, or for individual amusement. The quantity of human food thus taken yearly 

 from the water is enormous; an idea of it may be formed from the fact that of one species alone, and that a very 

 local one, being confined to the western extremity of our island— the pilchard— the Cornwall fisheries yield twenty- 

 one thousand hogsheads annually ! What, then, must be the produce of all the species above enumerated all round 

 the indented coasts of Britain and Ireland ? We have no sufficient data to determine the commercial value of British 

 fisheries, but it has been estimated by Sir John Barrow at £8,300,000 per annum." 



To these we must add the British oyster-fisheries, which are probably equal to those of all the rest of Europe. In 

 these marine products we find two of the principal sources — one physical and one moral — of the power of the United 

 Kingdom ; the sea not only furnishes an immense amount of food to the inhabitants, but its fisheries train up 

 thousands and tens of thousands to familiarity with the sea, who consequently carry the ships of their country over 

 every portion of the world. Thus it is that the commerce of England is without limit; thus it is that the sun never 

 sets upon her vast domains, including one-sixth of the habitable globe. Dr. Franklin said every man who draws a 

 ash from the water, finds a piece of money : England has abundantly proved the truth of this apothegm. 



