The Canadian Oyster 



PART I 



Development 



I 



INTRODUCTION 



Problems to be Solved. — A knowledge of the normal development 

 of a young oyster from the egg is of fundamental importance in formulating 

 any rational scheme of artificial oyster propagation, as well as in framing 

 suitable laws for the protection and encouragement of the oyster industry 

 as a source of wealth to the country. This, the economic aspect of the 

 subject, is a sufficient excuse for the devotion of time, labour and expense 

 in the acquisition of useful information. 



Another aspect, that from the standpoint of pure or theoretical zoo- 

 logy, views each newly acquired fact as a contribution to the total aggre- 

 gate of human knowledge, taking part in the proof or disproof of some 

 theory, and, in a measure, correcting our conception of a comprehensive 

 philosophy of nature. 



Oysters have been known and used as food from the periods of the 

 empires of Greece and Rome; in many countries methods of culture have 

 been employed; they have been studied by some of the greatest natural- 

 ists; there is an extensive literature relating to them. Notwithstanding 

 all this, our ignorance of the oyster is astonishing. We have not a single 

 concise, direct, intelligible, true and satisfying account of where, when 

 and how an egg becomes an oyster. To say that oyster eggs, spawned 

 into the sea in summer, grow into new oysters, is not satisfying. We 

 want to know what parts of the sea, what depth of water, how near shore, 

 whether on the surface or on the bottom; if free in the water or hidden 

 under rocks, plants or other objects; whether in stagnant or running 

 water; the temperature, salinity and purity of the water; the character 

 of the bottom; the plants and animals of the region; and, it may be, 

 a hundred other things about the place where oysters abound. We 

 v/ould like to know the month, week, perhaps day, when oysters emit 

 their eggs; whether there is a uniformity of action in this among oysters 

 of the same place, or of different places or different years; whether they 



