Photo from Dr. Hugh ]\i. Smith 



oyste;r growing on a pipe; 



The oyster is so large and the pipe so small that at first sight it would hardly seem 

 possible that the oyster grew from a little disc only about one-twentieth of an inch in 

 diameter. While the young oysters are in the free-swimming stage they are even smaller, 

 being about i/isoth part of an inch long and almost transparent. 



pi.oate;d oysters may be; dange;rous 



A prevalent practice among oyster 

 growers in some sections is to transfer 

 oysters from salt water to brackish or 

 less dense water for a short time before 

 shipping to market, with the object of 

 making them take on an illusive appear- 

 ance of fatness by the rapid absorption 

 of fresher water, while the more saline 

 fluids in the tissues slowly pass out. This 

 process, known as plumping, floating, or 

 fattening, results in a swelling of the 

 oysters to the full capacity of the shell, 

 but adds nothing to their nutritive value 

 or flavor. On the contrary, it extracts 

 certain nutritious ingredients and re- 

 places them with water. Chemical tests 

 have shown that this sadly misnamed 

 process of "fattening" deprives the oys- 

 ters of lo to 15 per cent of their food 

 value, while increasing their weight from 

 10 to 20 per cent. A similar result is 

 seen when oysters are placed in fresh 

 water or brought into contact with melt- 

 ing ice after removal from the shell. 



More serious, however, than the loss 

 of nutritive properties is the danger 

 from contamination by pathogenic bac- 

 teria when the floats are situated within 

 the range of sewers or other sources of 

 pollution. It is well known that oysters 



imbibe disease germs with their food, and 

 such germs may be taken into the human 

 body with their vitality unimpaired and 

 give rise to sickness. Epidemics of ty- 

 phoid fever have been definitely traced 

 to "floated" oysters which were un- 

 doubtedly innocuous when taken from 

 the Salter water. 



It will thus be seen that this feature 

 of oyster growing is not commendable, 

 and is necessarily prejudicial to the besti 

 interests of the industry. The growth 

 of the practice has been due to the igno- 

 rance of the public; its continuance after' 

 its undesirable nature has frequently 

 been shown is a sad commentary on our 

 intelligence. 



OYSTKRS ON the; PACII^IC COAST 



While the entire east coast of North 

 America has but a single species of oys- 

 ter, the Pacific coast has five or six 

 native species, and has been further en- 

 riched by the one from the Atlantic. 



The most abundant of the native spe- 

 cies, found in all the Pacific States, is 

 very small and has a strong flavor. It 

 is never served on the half shell, but is 

 eaten in bulk, one hundred or moret 1 

 oysters often being a "portion" for oneil 

 person. The largest and best occur in 

 Willapa Bay, Washington. 



264 



