■THE OYSTER.— OSTREAD.E. 



not impossible that, in spite of their defective intelli- 

 gence, they may have their sympathies anJ llieir 

 antipathies — we do not venture to say, their motives 

 and intentions. . 



Tlie locomotive apparatus of our bivalves is very 

 simple and very imperfect, and therefore we need not 

 be astonished tiiat they remain nearly all their life 

 nitached to the rock where they were born. Their 

 organ of movement is situated immediately beneath the 

 heart. It is a thick and fleshy body, half grey and 

 half white, traversing the mouth on two sides, and 

 attaching itself about the centre of the valves. When 

 we open an oyster, and despoil it of one valve, our 

 knife cuts light across this fleshy substance, and we 

 cut it a second time when preparing to eat the unfor- 

 tunate mollusc. 



It is by its powerful conlraction of this muscle that 

 the oyster hermet'cally seals itself in its habitation. 

 When it rela.xes the muscle, an elastic ligament, 

 adhering to the fleshy dainty, acts on the valves and 

 makes them fly open. And it is said that by repeatedly 

 and quickly opening and shutting these two valves, the 

 animal contrives to change its position, and even to 

 drag itself a short distance along its rock ; but the 

 statement seems almost incredible. 



Voltaire wrote in 17C7, " I am always at a loss to 

 understand how oysters can make love." He probably 

 never conceived the idea, as lago did, of " an oyster 

 crossed in love." 



Oysters po.ssess two sexes, but fulfil, at one and the 

 same time, both the paternal and maternal functions. 

 It is a curious circumstance that the organs of fecundity 

 only appear in our molluscs, like flowers in plants, at 

 the definite epoch when their function should be accom- 

 plished; and this time having passed, they wither and 

 disappear. Tlie spat, or spawn, is lodged among the lobes 

 of the mantle and the respiratory apparatus. Their 

 number is very considerable. Some writers assert tlial a 

 solitary individual will produce one hundred thousand'; 

 others that it can give birth to one million two hun- 

 dred thousand; while LeuAvenlioeck raisen the "sum 

 total " to ten million. Most modern naturalists reduce 

 these latter figures by four-fifths, which appears very 

 reasonable. 



The eggs are of a yellowish colour. They are 

 hatched in the bosom of the mollusc, wdiicb gives its 

 offspring to the world of waters in the action of breathing. 

 The young oysters form a whitish living cloud, of 

 greater or less density, which momentarily disturbs the 

 transparency of the liquid, shoots afar from the source 

 of its existence, antj is rapidly dispersed by the motion 

 of the waters. 



These larvBe are provided with atransilory apparatus 

 of natation, which [lermits them to spread to a con- 

 siderable distance in search of some solid body to which 

 they may attach themselves. Tliis apparatus consists 

 of a kind of sinuoiis pad, covered with numerous thickly- 

 set cilije ; it emerges from the valves, and re-enters at 

 pleasure. It is provided with powerful muscles for the 

 purpose of moving it. By means of this apparatus the 

 young oysters can swim with facility, and when they 

 have quitted their mother, float round about her. It is 

 paid that at the outset of their career, if any danger 



threatens, they take refuge between the maternal valves. 

 But it is not long before they attach themselves to 

 some substantial object, where they grow, and prosper, 

 and arrive at an adult condition. It takes about three 

 years for the mollusc to attain an average size. 



The favourite habitat of oysters is the shallow moving 

 water near shore. They sometimes develop into con- 

 siderable masses, which are called oyskr hanks. These 

 are frequently thousands of yards in extent, and appa- 

 rently inexhaustible. One was discovered in 1819 near 

 one of the islands of Zealand, which so abundantly 

 supplied the Dutch markets for a whole year, that the 

 price of these molluscs fell to ninepence per hundred. 

 But the bank being placed nearly at the surface of a 

 very shallow sea, it was entirely destroyed in the severe 

 winter which followed. 



The favourite edible varieties of oysters are ■ — 



The Common Oyster [Ostrca edulls) and the Horse- 

 shoe Oyster (Ostrea hippojms). 



The " Native " is a kind of the Common Oyster, 

 which flourishes in the neighbouihood of Colchester, in 

 Essex, and Whitstable, in Kent. 



From the Mediterranean shores we obtain the Ostrea 

 rosacea and the Ostrea lactcola. 



Corsica yields the Ostrea lamellosa. 



Two small and indifferent species found in the 

 Mediterranean, but seldom sent to the Paris or London 

 markets, are the Ostrea cristaia and Ostrea jilicata. 



We have also the Medina oysters from the river 

 Medina, in the Isle of Wight ; and the Pandora oysters, 

 from Prestonpans on the Firth of Forth. 



In France the two principal varieties of the Common 

 Oyster, differing in size and delicacy, are the Cancnle 

 and the Ostend. When the former has been kept for 

 sometime in a reservoir or basin, and has assumed a 

 greenish colour, it is called the oyster of Iforemies. 

 We shall shortly refer to the source and nature of this 

 coloration. 



The ordinary oyster is the palm and glory of the 

 table. " It may be considered," says a Frenth writer, 

 "as the most digestible of all substances ; it is the basis 

 of everything capable of nourishing and using without 

 effort the stomach ; it occupies the first place among 

 Uie pleasures of the table reserved by Providence for 

 delicate stomachs, the sick, and the convalescent. 



" Experience has so completely established these 

 gastronomic truths that no feast takes place, no banquet 

 worthy of coimoisseurs, without the oyster figuring con- 

 spicuously among its most valued delicacies. It is tlie 

 oyster, in truth, which opens and gently stimulates the 

 ducts, and seems to bid the stomach prepare itself for 

 the sublime functions of digestion ; in a word, it is the 

 key to that paradise which we name the appetite." 



" There is no alimentary substance," says a medical 

 authority, "not even bread, which will not produce 

 indigestion under certain given circumstances ; but 

 oysters, never ! This is a homage we are bound to 

 pay them. You may eat of them to-daj", to-morrow, 

 and always ; eat of them abundantly, and yet no 

 indigestion need be feared." 



The Latin historians relate that Vitellius partook of 

 them four times daily, and eat twelve hundred at each 

 repast, which would give a total of four thousand eight 



