242 On the Economical Uses of some species of Tesfacea. 



land carriage, and the slowness of sailing vessels in those times, we 

 may form some idea of their price, and the height to which luxury 

 in eating had attained. In later times they appear to have been 

 chiefly used for supper.* That many different species were used is 

 probable. Pliny informs us that those from Circaeum (Cape Cieceji) 

 were black both in the flesh and shell, those from Spain reddish, 

 and those from Sclavonia brown and dusky. f It was supposed that 

 the fish fattened during the full moon, and grew thin as it waned ; 

 we are not aware that this has been observed in the present day, but 

 it may have happened in particular situations, owing to the difference 

 in the tides. The Roman epicures were in the habit of icing them 

 before eating them, and the ladies used the calcined shell as a cosmetic 

 and depilatory. To the doctors this fish was most valuable, being 

 recommended in a great variety of diseases, and prepared in various 

 ways ; and though it could, generally speaking, do no good, it cer- 

 tainly could do little harm. 



Modern History. — In England, the oyster fisheries are chiefly 

 carried on at Colchester, in Essex, celebrated for its green oysters, 

 at Feversham and Milton in Kent, and in the Isle of Wight. They 

 are also fished for in the Swales of the Medway, in the Tenby on 

 the coast of Wales, and near Liverpool, as well as around Ports- 

 mouth, and in many of the creeks of the southern coast. The best 

 are found at Purfleet, the worst near Liverpool. They are very 

 plentifully but partially distributed, and are found to extend further 

 north on the western than on the eastern side of the island. In 

 Scotland they also abound but appear likewise to prefer the north- 

 eastern to the northwestern coast. While ,they are every where 

 plentiful and highly flavored, from the Clyde to the Zetland, Orkney, 

 and Western Islands, it does not appear that they breed higher on the 

 other side than in the Firth of Forth. Those on the western shores 

 are however comparatively litde used, and with the exception of a 

 few sent from Loch Farbert to Greenock, they are consumed by the 

 natives on the spot. Those of the eastern coast, on the contrary, are 

 carried to Newcasde upon Tyne, Hull and London, and have been 

 exported in large quantities to Holland. The best are procured 

 near Preston Pans, Port Seaton, and the Isle of Inchkeith, in Mus- 

 selburgh bay. Firth of Forth ; and vessels from Milton, Lee, and 

 other parts of England come to dredge for them, and carrying them 



* Juvenal, Sat. vi. 301.- + Plin. Hist; Nat. lib. ix. cap. 32. 



