MOLLUSCA—PEARL OYSTER. 767 
ters hang in clusters, like apples upon the most fertile tree; and in propor- 
tion as the weight of the fish sinks the plant into the water, where it still 
continues growing, the aumber of oysters increase, and hang upon the 
branches. This is effected by means of a glue proper to themselves, which, 
when it cements, the joining is as hard as the shell, and is as difficultly 
broken. 
Oysters usually cast their spawn in May, which at first appears like drops 
of candle-grease, and sticks to any hard substance it falls upon. These are 
covered with a shell in two or three days; and in three years the animal 1s 
large enough to be brought to market. As they invariably remain in the 
places where they are laid, and as they grow without any other seeming 
food than the afflux of sea water, it is the custom where the tide settles in 
marshes on land, to pick up great quantities of small oysters along the 
shore, which, when first gathered, seldom exceed the size of a sixpence. 
These are deposited in beds where the tide comes in, and in two or three 
years grow to a tolerable size. They are said to be better tasted for being 
thus sheltered from the agitation of the deep; and a mixture of fresh water 
entering into these repositories, is said to improve their flavor, and to increase 
their growth and fatness. Most of the oysters sold in Boston are taken in 
some part of Long Island Sound, and kept a year at Cape Cod, where they 
grow much larger, ard are better than when first taken. 
The oysters, however, which are prepared in this manner, are by no 
means so large as those found sticking to rocks at the bottom of the sea, 
usually called rock oysters. These are sometimes found as broad as a 
plate, and are admired by some as excellent food. But what is the size of 
these compared to the oysters of the East Indies, some of whose shells we 
have seen two feet over? The oysters found along the coast of Coromandel 
are capable of furnishing a plentiful meal to eight or ten men; but it seems 
universally agreed that they are no way comparable to ours for delicacy or 
flavor. The oysters taken on the coast of England have a strong taste of 
copper, which they derive from the copper banks. They are, at first, very 
disgusting to an American palate. 
Tie "PEARL OY Ss tHE 
Has a large, strong, whitish shell, wrinkled and rough without, and within 
smooth, and of a silver color. From these the mother-of-pearl is taken, 
which is nothing more than the internal coats of the shell, resembling the 
pearl in color and consistence. There are a great number of pearl fisheries 
1 Meleagrina margaritifera. Lix. The genus Meleagrina has a shell subequivalve. 
rounded, scaly without; a sinus at the posterior base of the valves for the passage of the 
byssus, the left valve being notched and narrow at this place; hinge linear without teeth ' 
ligament marginal, elongated, almost exterior, dilated in the middle. 
