288 UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 



There is a second possibility of exactly opposite kind, suggested 

 by Cunningham, i.e. to give up hatching, and largely increase 

 the extent of spawning-ponds, contenting ourselves with setting 

 adrift vast numbers of fertilized eggs. Both the possibilities 

 mentioned require testing on a large scale, and afford suitable 

 objects for large Government expenditure. The money spent on 

 a single battle-ship, or even on a cruiser, if devoted to this pur- 

 pose, would quite conceivably settle the whole vexed question 

 of British marine fish-hatcheries so far as some of the more im- 

 portant food-fishes are concerned. And unless scientific research, 

 both pure and as applied to our important industries, fisheries 

 of course included, is not far more largely endowed in future 

 than it has been in the past, it may come about in the course of 

 time that the country will be unable to afford a sufficient number 

 of battle-ships, cruisers, and similar expensive necessaries. 



MOLLUSCS (MOLLUSCA) AS FOOD 



Brief mention has already been made (see p. 214) of various 

 molluscs used for food in different parts of the world. A few 

 of these are of such importance that they require somewhat more 

 detailed treatment. They are Oysters, Mussels, Cockles, and 

 Periwinkles. 



The Oyster (Ostrea). — The most important European species 

 is the " Flat " Oyster (O. edulis), to which our " natives " belong. 

 There is also the large, somewhat triangular, Portuguese Oyster 

 [O. angitlatd), which is of considerable economic importance, 

 though of coarser kind. The American Oyster (C Virginiand), 

 commonly known in this country as " blue point ", is the object 

 of valuable and extensive fisheries on the Atlantic coast of the 

 United States. In spite of typhoid scares it is probable that 

 oysters will continue to be popular delicacies in this country, 

 those from Whitstable and other fisheries in the Thames estuary 

 being most esteemed. 



Oyster Culture. — Some nations engage on a large scale in 

 oyster culture as well as oyster fishing. Italy, Holland, France, 

 and the United States may be particularly mentioned in this 

 connection. This kind of culture mainly depends on the fact 

 that the larvae, fry, or " spat " readily attach themselves to 

 various foreign objects, and can then be reared to "seed" 



