ORDER I. ACEPHALA TESTACEA. THE OYSTER. 237 
far as the Westenfiord, where it finds its northern boundary, lat. 68° N.; 
but the British waters may be considered as its headquarters, for nowhere is 
it found in greater abundance, and of a richer flavor. In the United States 
it abounds on the Atlantic coast from Massachusetts to the extreme southern 
limit ; but the Virginian and Carolinian oysters are the most esteemed. 
Three sorts of oysters are distinguished in the trade. The first com- 
prises those which are dredged from the deeper banks. These are the 
largest sized, but also the least valued. The second consists of those that 
are gathered on a more elevated situation. Being accustomed to the daily 
vicissitudes of ebb and flood, they retain their water much longer, and can, 
therefore, be more easily transported to greater distances than the former. 
Those are preferred that grow on a clean bottom, near the estuaries of 
rivers. The third and most valued sort of oysters are those that are 
preserved in artificial basins or parks. 
Oyster Cuntrure. — This branch of industry was known to the Romans ; 
and Pliny names Sergius Orata, a knight, as the first who established an 
oyster-park, and realized large sums of money by this ingenious invention. 
At present, England and France take the lead in this important business. 
Their oyster-parks, or gardens, are generally large walled basins, commu- 
nicating by sluices with the sea, so that the water can be let in and out. 
As infusoria and microscopic ale are produced in much greater numbers 
in these tranquil basins than in the boisterous sea, the oysters find here a 
much more abundant food, and being detached one from the other, they can 
also open and close their shells with greater facility, so that nothing hinders 
their growth. 
Thus fostered and improved by art, they are vastly superior to the rough 
children of nature that are sent at once to market, and condemned to the 
knife immediately after having been dragged forth from their submarine 
abode. The highly-prized green oysters owe their color to the numbers 
of ulva, enteromorpha, and microscopic alge that are usually generated 
in these parks, and communicate their verdant tinge to the animal that swal- 
lows them. 
Considering the increasing wealth and luxury of our nation, which annu- 
ally raises the demand for oysters, the small number of artificial oyster-beds 
along our coasts, and, above all, the improvident and ruinous manner in 
which the delicate mollusks are collected on their native banks, it is very 
much to be feared that ere long both fisherman and consumer will have to 
deplore an exhausted supply. It is, therefore, extremely desirable that 
new natural banks should be created; and fortunately the manner in which 
the mollusks are developed, and several successful examples, warrant its 
practicability. 
NO. XVII. 83 
