BIVALVE MOLLUSCA., 379 
ue a of Jutland, and opposite Shagen, beds less productive are 
ound. 
The great oyster-beds of England extend from Gravesend, in the 
estuary of the Thames and Medway, along the Kentish coast on the 
one hand, and the estuary of the Colne and other rivers on the 
Essex coast. The Frith of Forth is also famous for its oyster-beds, 
extending from Prestonpans far up the estuary of the river; but, 
curiously enough, all these great banks, without exception, have been 
impoverished, and all but exhausted, by improvident dredging, in 
spite of the “close season ” which has always existed.* 
“He was a bold man who first ate an oyster,” has been said 
before. The name of the courageous individual has not been 
recorded, but Mr. Bertram, in his “ Harvest of the Sea,” tells us ‘a 
legend concerning him :—“ Once upon a time ”—it must have beena 
long time ago—“a man of melancholy mood was walking by the 
shores of a picturesque estuary, listening to the monotonous murmur 
of the sad sea-waves, when he espied a very old and ugly oyster-shell 
all coated over with parasites and sea-weeds. It was so unpre- 
possessing that he kicked it with his foot, and the animal, astonished 
at receiving such rude treatment on its own domain, gaped wide 
with indignation, preparatory to closing its valves still more tightly. 
Seeing the beautiful cream-coloured layers that shone within the 
shelly covering, and fancying that the interior of the shell itself must 
be beautiful, he lifted up the aged ‘native’ for further examination, 
inserting his finger and thumb within the valves. The irate mollusc, 
thinking, no doubt, that this was meant as a further insult, snapped 
its pearly doors down upon his fingers, causing him considerable 
pain. After releasing his wounded digits, our inquisitive gentleman 
very naturally put it in his mouth. ‘ Delightful!” exclaimed he, 
opening wide his eyes; ‘what is this?’ and again he sucked his 
finger. Then the great truth flashed upon him that he had found 
out a new delight—had, in fact, achieved the most important dis- 
covery ever made. He proceeded at once to realise the thought. 
With a stone he opened the oyster’s stronghold, and gingerly tried 
a piece of the mollusc itself. ‘ Delicious!’ he exclaimed ; and there 
and then, with no other condiment than its own juice, with no 
accompaniment of foaming brown stout or pale Chablis to wash it 
* The cause of the present scarcity of oysters is a much-vexed question. 
Mr. Frank Buckland, a most excellent authority on oyster and fish culture, 
attributes it to sudden changes of temperature at the critical period when the 
spat is newly formed, rather than to over-dredging. 
