448 
OYSTERS AND OYSTER- CULTURE. 
BY THE EDITOR. 
0 eat oysters in July would be unpardonable ; to write 
about them should be at all events excusable. If, there- 
fore, there be any of our readers whose fastidiousness extends 
to that degree that even the mention of the “ breedy creatures 33 
in this season is objectionable to them, to such we offer our 
sincere apologies. Some may ask, why, knowing that, the pro- 
tionable, have you not chosen some other subject? We shall 
explain. We are fully aware that these shellfish should not 
be eaten during la periode des mois sans r, and that is the very 
reason why we have chosen them now as the subject of our 
remarks. The delicacy which characterizes our selection must 
be obvious to every one possessed of powers of reflection. 
We are influenced by two desires — one absolute, the other 
negative. We wish to preserve the infinitesimal proportion 
oysters, of their appetite. For example, how destructive 
of the better feelings of our readers, to inform them that a 
“ native 33 had a heart and nerves, and the faculty of sensation ! 
Eat the succulent creature they must, but at the same time their 
more kindly sympathies would undergo a species of suffocation. 
Then suppose they be members of the Royal Humane Society. 
How terrible ! Again, conceive of the disgust which must 
inevitably be created by the idea, that whilst devouring the 
delicious bivalve one is really swallowing a semi-living stomach 
with its contained undigested mass, a heart which has hardly 
ceased to throb, and a brain which perhaps at the very 
moment was unconsciously dreaming of its security ! No, no, 
our reader s* comfort is a matter of moment to us. While 
they read the following pages they can as it were examine the 
oyster from an abstract stand-point, and by the time the 
season again approaches, the gastronomic tendencies will be in 
the ascendant, and all that concerns this article will most 
probably be consigned to oblivion. The foregoing are, then, the 
reasons why we have chosen the present as a fitting oppor- 
tunity to say a few words about the oyster. 
priety of treating folk to oysters in midsummer is at least ques- 
of humane feelings which even gourmets may be said to 
possess, and also to avoid depriving those who delight in eating 
