CLASS V. LAMELLIBRANCHIATA: 
ORDER 
2. ASTPHONATA. 
527 
inches long, is common at the mouth of the Connecticut river ; * the P. Islandicus is of a red- 
dish orange-color, two to three inches long, 
found on our northern coasts. The F. con- 
centricus is a small species, and the most 
common alona; the coast of New York. 
THE OSTRACEA. 
We now come to the most important of 
all the mollusca, in an economical point of 
view, the Oyster. Mankind appear at an 
early date to have been acquainted with 
its delicious flavoi\ Mr. Cozzeus, in his 
" Prismatics," suggests the probability that 
although Adam was the great name-giver of 
early times, inasmuch as he lived inland, he 
" never saw the succulent periphery in its 
native mud ; we may deduce the following 
reasonable conclusion, viz., that as he never 
saw it, he probably never named it — no, not 
to his most intimate friends." In tracing 
the history of the oyster in connection with 
mankind, this author seems to have come 
to the conclusion that its merits were first discovered in Great Britain — an idea perhaps sug- 
gested by the well-known fact that British oysters, even so far back as the time of the early 
emperors, were renowned among the epicures of Rome. The precise details of the discovery are 
given by this fanciful and humorous writer as follows : 
"Methinks I see the First Oyster-Eater! a brawny, naked savage, with his wild hair mat- 
ted over his wild eyes, a zodiac of fiery stars tattooed across his muscular breast : unclad, un- 
sandaled, hirsute, and hungry, he breaks through the underwoods that margin the beach, and 
stands along upon the sea-shore, with nothing in one hand but his unsuccessful boar-spear, and 
nothing in the other but his fist. There he beholds a splendid panorama ! The West all aglow, 
the conscious waves blushing as the warm sun sinks to their embraces, the blue sea on the left, 
the interminable forest on his right, and the creamy sea-sand curving in delicate tracery between 
— a picture and a child of nature ! Delightedly he plunges into the foam, and swims to the bald 
crown of a rock that uplifts itself above the waves. Seating himself, he gazes upon the calm ex- 
panse beyond, and swings his legs against the moss that spins its filmy tendrils in the brine. 
Suddenly he utters a cry, springs up, the blood streaming from his foot. With barbarous fury 
he tears up masses of sea-moss, and with it clustering families of testacea. Dashing them down 
upon the rock, he perceives a liquor exuding from the fragments ; he sees the white, pulpy, deli- 
cate morsel half hidden in the cracked shell, and instinctively reaching upward, his hand finds 
his mouth, and amid a savage, triumphant deglutition, he murmurs — Oyster ! ! Champing in 
his uncouth fashion bits of shell and sea-weed with uncontrollable pleasure, he masters this mj^^s- 
ter)'' of a new sensation, and not until the gray veil of night is drawn over the distant waters, 
does he leave the rock, covered with the trophies of Ms victory. 
" We date from this epoch the Maritime History of England. Ere long the reedy cabins of 
her aborigines clustered upon the banks of beautiful inlets, and overspread her long lines of level 
beaches, or penciled with delicate wreaths of smoke the savage aspect of her rocky coasts. The 
sword was beaten into the oyster-knife, and the spear into oyster-rakes. Commerce spread her 
white wings along the shores of happy Albion, and man emerged at once into civilization from a 
* Connecticut is noted for the excellence of its shad and shell-fish. The " Dragon Oysters," taken in the estuary 
of Dragon river, near New Haven are small, but of unrivaled flavor; unfortunately, the beds are nearly exhausted. 
The oysters of Norwal are also small, but are among the very best that are known. The scallop may be also found 
in great perfection at the restaurants of that thriving town. 
THE ST. JAMES' COCKLE. 
