29 



tive resemblance in shape to the tongue of a cat.^ Dr. 

 C. A. White informs me that he has noticed oysters in 

 the fossil state, which occupied a vertical position in a 

 sandy matrix, a fact which . show^s that the habit so 

 strongly marked in modern banks must be a very ancient 

 one. 



All the observant writers upon the oyster agree that it 

 is essential that the bottom upon which oyster banks are 

 to be permanent should not be liable to shift or be cov- 

 ered by mud or sediment carried to the beds by the tide 

 waters. The comparatively meagre experience which 

 the writer has had has strongly enforced such a conclu- 

 sion. The permanent banks, owing to the great number 

 of dead shells scattered through the bottom soil upon 

 which they have been established, acquire a peculiar 

 solidity or fixedness which the currents of tide water 

 cannot sensibly aifect. When once these banks are 

 covered by the clusters of oysters more or less, securely 

 held together by the lower portions being imbedded in 

 the soil below, and mutually wedged together by the 

 many surfaces of contiguous clusters becoming neatly 

 adapted to each other by pressure, it is a very hard mat- 

 ter for the tides to- smother the bank unless sufficient 

 soil in suspension is carried by the waters to completely 

 cover the animals. The inferences to be drawn from the 

 foregoing studies are very important. They lead nat- 

 urally to the inquiry whether artificial oyster beds can- 

 not at least be established in shallow water, where the 

 difficulties in altering the character of the bottom so as 

 to adapt it to the wants of the oyster, are not practically 

 insurmountable. I believe that the establishment of 

 artiffcial beds in a moderately rapid tide way is possible. 

 The localities, T apprehend, are abundant along both the 

 eastern and western shores of the Chesapeake, and I 



*The crowded condition of the banks may be inferred from the fact that as many as 40 oysters 

 were counted by me in an area included in a quadrangle of wire including exactly one square 

 foot ; 30 individuals to the square foot was a fair average on the bank examined. Where the 

 "cat's-tongues" are developed, a much more crowded condition probably prevails. 



