24 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station. 1920. 



Clams. 



To sell water camouflaged as food at the price of clams, 

 butter, milk, "Hamburg" steak and similar food products is a 

 constant temptation to the man who cares not for his neighbor 

 but desires to fatten his pocket-book from an unthinking and 

 often helpless public. A study made by the writer in conjunc- 

 tion with Doctor W. O. Atwater more than a generation ago 

 and published in the Report of the U. S. Fish Commissioner 

 for 1888 clearly showed the "floating" or "fattening" of oysters 

 by taking them from the salt water beds and placing them in 

 brackish waters instead of adding to, detracted from the nutri- 

 tive value. The plumped oysters were not fattened but were 

 merely dilated with water due to osmosis. 



Not until the enactment of the food laws in 1895 was it 

 possible to attempt to put a stop to this unrighteous practice. 

 As opened oysters enter into interstate shipments the undue 

 watering has been largely eliminated through the activities of 

 the Federal Pure Food officials. But the watering of clams 

 still continues, and is so far as Maine is concerned and to quite 

 an extent in interstate commerce much as was the case with 

 oysters a dozen years ago. With the increased cost of foods, 

 their scarcity and the war conditions there has been an unusual 

 chance for increase in pecuniary "frauds. Watered clams look 

 better, that is whiter and plumper, and the improved appear- 

 ance makes easier sale of clams and water than of unwatered 

 clams. There is every reason from the standpoint of the pur- 

 chaser why clams should not be allowed to come in contact with 

 fresh or brackish water. Clams which are not soaked at all 

 and are well drained should contain about one-fifth their weight 

 in dry matter and be at prices which they can be sold in Maine 

 a relatively cheap source of animal protein. 



For the purpose of comparison of clams on sale with 

 authenticated specimens handled under known conditions and 

 from salt and brackish waters, the following specimens were 

 collected and examined. Those from the first lot were opened 

 in the laboratory and from the second lot at the flats. 



