One-fourth. 

 One-fifth. 



< 



CULTIVATION OF OYSTERS BY NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL METHODS. 13 



With this idea, I have, with the assistance of my clerk, ascertained the pro- 

 portion of meat to shell in nearly forty kinds of oysters. I am indebted to 

 Mr. Moore, of the Derby Museum, Liverpool, for many specimens of these 

 oysters ; and I shall be exceedingly obliged to any gentleman who will give 

 me any specimens to enlarge my table. 



Proportion of Meat to Shell in different hinds of Oysters, ascertained by 



Mr. Frank BucMand. 



Colchester 



Whitstable 



Paglesham 



Heme Bay 



Falmouths 



Callies >• One-sixth. 



Mayor's Bank, Galway J 



Plymouth , 



Tramore Bay, Ireland 



Eastbourne, Sussex )-One -seventh. 



Milford, Wales 



Isle of Skye 



Bed Bank Burrin, Collare, Ireland .... 



Sandheads, Mouth of Thames 



Sir W. Wallace's, Loch Byan, Scotland 



Exmouth Harbour 



Wexford, Ireland >One-eighth 



Clew Bay, Ireland 



Skibbereen, Cape Clear , 



Penmaenmawr, Wales 



Auglimish Bay, Ireland 



Boston, Lincolnshire 



Boss Muck, co. Clare, Ireland 



Waterford, Ireland 



Channel between Dover and France . . 



Hayling Island, near Portsmouth \ One-tenth. 



Beaumaris, Wales 



Shetland 



Howth Bank, Ireland 



Mouth of the Humber ' One-twelfth. 



North Sea One-fifteenth. 



Isle of Be, France One-twentieth. 



It struck me that, whereas the oysters were very different in appearance, 

 their mineral ingredients would differ correspondingly. I have therefore 

 obtained the assistance of Mr. A. P. Tarner, F.C.S. He finds that the chemical 

 ingredients composing the oyster-shell are three — animal matter, phosphate 

 of lime, and carbonate of lime. 



Six different kinds of oysters were taken from localities widely apart ; 

 and the result (given in the Table) proved directly that, as I had supposed 

 from theory, the more animal matter there was in an oyster-shell, and the 

 less mineral, the greater value it would be for the market ; it is very satis- 

 factory to find that the chemical ingredients of the shell of the oyster tally 

 almost exactly with the prices they bear at the market. I have not as yet 

 had time to examine the meat of the oyster, but propose to report on this 

 at a future time. 



One-ninth. 



} 



One-eleventh. 



