246 Gleanings from the 



of fifh, but the author of the " Odyfley " does 

 (" OdyfTey," xii. 330-332). On the other hand, it 

 was replied by the Scholiaft with a delightfully un- 

 fcientific, if conclufive, argument, that they who 

 are accuftomed to eat oyfters may be confidered to 

 know the ufe of fifh in diet. A Homeric hero, 

 however, would as foon have thought of eating 

 fifh as a hero of Dr. Johnfon's time would have 

 drunk claret. 1 Ariftotle gives an elaborate account 

 of the oyfter's habits and anatomy : " It has the 

 ftrangeft nature of ail creatures, its body being 

 altogether concealed in fhell. It poflefTes two 

 openings, fome little diftance from each other, 

 very fmall, and not eafy to be difcerned, by 

 means of which it takes in and fends out water ;" 

 and more of fimilar import. He treats its fenfes 

 with fcant reverence ; but we know that an oyfter 

 pofTeiTes heart, liver, mouth, gills, and other 

 organs, to fay nothing of a capacious ftomach and 

 ciliary appendages, which bring a conftant ftream 

 of water and food to its mouth. What chiefly 

 ftruck the ancient Greeks with regard to its 

 economy is what firft imprelTes a child at prefent, 

 the clofe manner in which it clings to the rock. 

 Plato employs this habit of the oyfter in a beautiful 

 paflage : " We have given a true account of the 

 foul," he fays, " in its prefent appearance ; but we 

 have looked at it in a ftate like that of the fea-god 

 Glaucus, whofe original nature can no longer be 



1 " Sir, claret is the liquor for boys ; port for men : but he 

 who afpires to be a hero " (fmiling) " muft drink brandy." 

 (Bofwell, vol. iii., p. 411, ed. 1816.) 



