1882. ] SHELL-FISH COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. 67 
the edges of the shells, and by depositing a glutinous sub- 
stance therefrom along the inner surface of the edges of 
the shells; at the same time he secretes, from the water, 
earbonate of lime, which mixes with the glutinous sub- 
stance and hardens fast upon it; thereby forming a new 
extension all around it. When oysters are crowded by 
each other on the bed or in muddy places, they grow long 
and narrow, and their shells are thin and fragile; when 
they are free and unclogged, as on hard bottoms, they 
grow more rounded and plump, just as might have been 
anticipated from this method of increasing their sheils. 
The mouth of the oyster is near the hinge, and it opens 
directly into its stomach, which is the thick, soft mass be- 
tween the hinge and the adductor muscle. The heart is 
between this muscle and the stomach; and its beating is 
visible to the naked eye. By the opening and closing of 
the valves, fresh supplies of water are brought within 
reach of the gills, commonly known as “the beard,” and 
these, by the constant action of the cilia along their edge, 
carry the food to the mouth, where it is sifted of foreign 
substances and then taken into the stomach. 
The young oyster is easily destroyed; but the mature 
oyster is hardy. He suffers no apparent detriment when 
transplanted from one latitude to another, or from salt 
water to fresh, or from soft bottoms to hard. 
Oysters in the rivers, and the shallow, brackish waters 
of Connecticut, spawn about the middle of July and con- 
tinue until the first of September. In deep waters, where 
the temperature is not so high, the spawning is retarded, 
beginning later in the summer and ending later in the fall. 
The sexual character of the oyster has long been a sub- 
ject of dispute, some claiming that it is hermaphrodite, 
and:some that it is bi-sexual. The former assert that the 
egos are fertilized within the ovaries, and are retained 
within the shell, resting between the gills and folds of the 
mantle, until they are sufficiently grown, when they are 
elected into the water to shift for themselves. However 
this may be with European oysters, it certainly is not true 
of the American species. After the admirable investiga- 
