On the Economical Uses of some species of Testacea. 247 



In 1768, Mr. John Canton discovered that a very good phospho- 

 rus* could be made from oyster shells. He added a little sulphur 

 • to them, and by calcination produced the substance. A long ac- 

 count of the process and his experiments is given in the Philosoph- 

 ical Transactions of that year. The French have a proverb drawn 

 from this animal, which they apply to an awkward person, " il parle 

 oujoue, ^c. comme une huitre a Vecailley^^ 



Besides these, oysters are found in most countries ; the following 

 are a few of the species. 



The West Indies have, according to Hughes, two oysters, a large 

 one in deep water, which is seldom eaten, and the mangrove oyster, 

 which adheres to the roots of the trees in the wash of the tide, 

 whence the old fable of oysters growing on trees. The same are 

 found in Sumatra, where we are told that they are by no means so 

 good as those of Europe. J Round the shores of New South Wales 

 oysters are extremely plentiful, and though generally small, are of 

 delicate flavor. Every rock is covered with them, and Mr. Martyn 

 informs us he has seen parties of young ladies, with small hammers, 

 seated on a large rock and feasting with great gout on these dain- 

 ties.§ In Southern Africa the oysters of Mossel Bay are much cel- 

 ebrated, and their flavor considered so fine, that epicures have been 

 induced to visit the bay from Cape Town, (Cape of Good Hope,) 

 for the express purpose of enjoying a feast of them. The distance 

 is about three hundred miles, so that they ought to be good to repay 

 the trouble. II 



X. OsTKEA ScABRA, (Liun.) — Scoly Oyster. 



This is an inhabitant of the Bahama islands, where it is eaten. It 

 is occasionally to be met with in the Philadelphia markets for the 

 same purpose. 



* So called from its emitting light in the dark after exposure to the sun's rays. — 

 Ed. 



t In compiling this article, the following works are those which have chiefly 

 been referred to and quoted from: — Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xxxii. cap. vi. lib. ix. cap, 

 36. Rees' Cyclopaedia, Art. Oyster. McCulloch's Coram. Diet. Art. Oyster. 

 Brewster's Edinburgh Encyclop. Art. Fisheries. Encyclop. Americana, Appen- 

 dix, Vol. viii. Art. Oyster. Postlethwaite's Diction. Art. Oyster. Sinclair's 

 Stat. Hist, of Scotland, Vol. i. p. 358. Vol. vi. p. 196. Vol. x. p. 202. Vol. xvii. 

 pp. 69, 102, &c. Keppel Craven's Tour, p. 184. Statistique generale, &c. par. 

 P. E. Herbin, Vol. i. p. 386. Diction, de Trevoux. Philosophical Transactions, 

 Vol. viii. 554. Iviii. 337. ii. 606, &c. &c. &c. 



t Marsden's Hist. Sumatra, p. 121. 



§ Martyn's Hist, of the Br. Col. Vol. iv. p. 295. 



II Webster's Voyage to the S. Atlantic Ocean, 1830, Vol. i. p. 223. 



