Class VI. SHELLS. 107 



' The rcafon of the fcarcity of oyfters, and confe- 

 c quently of their dearnefs, is, becaufe they are of 



* late years bought up by the Dutch. 



c There are great penalties, by the Admiralty 

 c court, laid upon thofe that fifh out of thofe 

 c grounds which the court appoints, or that deftroy 

 6 the culteb, or that take any oyfters that are not of 

 c fize, or that do not tread under their feet, or 

 c throw upon the fhore, a fifh which they call a 

 4 Five-finger *, refembling a fpur-rowel, becaufe 

 « that fifh gets into the oyfters when they gape, 



< and fucks them out. 



c The reafon why fuch a penalty is fet upon 

 c any that mall deftroy the cultch, is, becaufe 

 f they find that if that be taken away, the Oufe 



< will increafe, and the mufcles and cockles will 

 6 breed there, and deftroy the oyfters, they having 

 6 not whereon to ftick their fpat. 



6 The oyfters are fick after they have fpat ; 



* but in June and July they begin to mend, and 

 c in Auguft they are perfectly well : the male 

 c oyfter is black-fick^ having a black fubitance in 

 « the fin j the female white-Jick, (as they term it) 

 e having a milky fubftance in the fin. They are 



* fait in the pits, falter in the layers, but falter 

 « at lea.' 



To this I beg leave to join a fort of prefent flate 

 of this article, borrowed from the 84th page of 



* Asteri as glacialis* the common Sea Star. 



the 



