BIVALVE MOLLUSCA. 385 



liver and stomach, and throws it into his mouth, where the teeth cut, 

 crush, and grind it, and, while still living and palpitating, reduced to 

 an inanimate mass, these organs fast triturate it, while our gourmet is 

 drinking its blood, its fat, and its bile. 



We have said that oysters have no head, no arms — that they are 

 without eyes (although that is disputed), without ears, and without 

 nose ; that they do not stir — that they never cry ! 



Agreed, perfectly agreed ; but all these negatives do not prevent 

 its being sensible to pain. Two eminent Germans, Herren Brandt 

 and Ratzeburg, have proved that they possess a well-developed 

 nervous system; and if they possess sensation they must suffer. 

 " Can an animal with nerves be impassible?" asks Voltaire. " Can 

 we suppose any such impossible contradiction in Nature?" 



There is consolation, however, for all concerned. Let the 

 humanitarian fishermen, oyster-dredgers, merchants, and consumers, 

 console themselves with the vast difference between the helpless 

 imperfect mollusc and the higher classes of animals. In the case of 

 the former we swallow the animal, scarcely thinking of its animal 

 nature. It is the denizen of another element, lives in a medium in 

 which we cannot exist, presents itself in a form, so to speak, degraded 

 — an obscure vitality, motions undecided, and habits scarcely dis- 

 cernible. We may therefore see the oyster mutilated, mutilate them 

 oneself, grind them, and swallow them, without emotion or remorse. 



A learned naturalist dwelling on the sea-shore possessed himself 

 one day of a dozen oysters. He wished to study their organisation ; 

 he turned them, and turned them again, examined their several parts 

 inside and out. He made drawings of and described them, and, 

 having satisfied himself that he had exhausted his scientific skill in 

 observing them, he swallowed them ; the interesting bivalves had lost 

 nothing of their excellence, and the examination did not prejudice 

 their flavour. 



Oyster fishing is pursued in a very different manner in different 

 countries. Round Minorca, divers, with hammers attached to the 

 right hand, descend to the depth of a dozen fathoms, and bring up in 

 their left hand as many of the bivalves as they can carry, two fisher- 

 men, usually associating for the purpose, diving alternately until the 

 boat is filled. On the English and French coasts the dredge is 

 employed, as represented in Plate XVI. This operation is also 

 necessary to keep down the marine vegetation, which would stifle the 

 oysters ; the engine is of iron, and is very heavy. It is thrown over- 

 board, and descends to the bottom of the sea, which it ploughs and 



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