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335 
without eyes (although that is disputed), without ears, aud without 
n ° He ; that they do not stir— that they never cry ! 
Agreed, perfectly agreed ; but all these negatives do not prevent its 
“Aig sensible to pain. Two eminent. Germans, Herren Brandt and 
^itzebnrg, have proved that they possess a well-developed nervous 
System, and if they possess sensation they must suffer. Can an 
Ritual with nerves be impassible ?” asks Voltaire. “ Can we suppose 
fU| y such impossible contradiction in Nature ?” 
There is consolation, however, for all concerned. Let the humani- 
^ a i'iau fishermen, oyster-dredgers, merchants, and consumers, console 
^niselves with the vast difference between the helpless imperfect 
,tl0 Uusc and the higher classes of animals. In the case of the former 
'' l! swallow the animal, scarcely thinking of its animal nature. It is 
denizen of another clement, lives in a medium in which we cannot 
6 ^ s t, presents itself in a form, so to speak, degraded— an obscure 
'Aality, motions undecided, aud babits scarcely discernible. We may 
before see the oyster mutilated, mutilate them oneself, grind them, 
an 'l swallow them, without emotion or remorse. 
A learned naturalist dwelling on the sea shore possessed himself one 
’ la y of a dozen oysters. He wished to study their organization ; he 
tllr md them, aud turned them again, examined their several parts 
Aisicl© amj TTa made drawings of and described them, and, having 
Sati sfied himself that he had exhausted Science in observing, be 
Allowed them ; the interesting bivalves had lost nothing of their 
Excellence, and the examination did not prejudice the consummation. 
^Jster fishing is pursued in a very different manner in different 
e °%tri es . Bound Minorca, divers, with hammers attached to the 
| j^)t hand, descend to the depth of a dozen fathoms, and bring up in 
leir left hand as many of the bivalves as they can carry, two fisher- 
usually associating for the purpose, diving alternately until the 
• ° at is filled. On the English and French coasts the dredging machine 
s employed, as represented in Pn. XII. This operation is necessary 
keep down vegetation, which would stifle the oysters ; the engine is 
?, * r ° n , aud is very heavy. It is thrown overboard, and descends to 
6 bottom of the sea, which it ploughs and scrapes up, detaching the 
ysterg, and throwing them into a net attached to the dredgei. In this 
l ° Ces s oysters, large and small, are torn from their native bed, some 
