344 : 
THE OCEAN WORLD. 
perfection -which characterises the best products of the Marennes 
oyster-parks. 
Oysters placed in the reservoirs in an adult state become green, it 13 
true, in a very few days, hut they never attain the exquisite flavour el 
those which have been bred in the parks, and have undergone the 
costly manipulation described, from their earliest years. 
The question arises, What is the colouring principle which is here 
in operation ? The green colour is not general ; it is shown princi' 
pally on the branchiae, upon the labial feelers and intestinal canal , 
it is rather undecided; and the colouring matter appears to difl er 
chemically from all other known pigments of green colour. Must it 
be attributed to the soil of the claire ? This is its most probabl e 
origin. But many naturalists insist that the colouring matter proceeds 
from an infusorial animalcules, the green-coloured Yibrion. Other 3 
have hazarded the opinion that it is a disease of the liver in our 
unfortunate bivalve which produces the colour. Bile secreted 111 
excess by a diseased liver would give a green hue to the parenchy 11111 
of the respiratory organs of an animal rendered sick by the exceptions! 
treatment to which it has been subjected. Of these three opinion--) 
says M. Figuier, the first, as we have said, presents the greatest appes 1 " 
ance of probability. 
The system of oyster farms, which has worked admirably for th e 
companies themselves, has proved of doubtful utility, so far as tk e 
oyster-eating public is concerned, as the following sketch of the Wbh' 
stable oyster farms will show. The oyster farm at Whitstable lS 
co-operative in the best sense of the term, and has been in operation f° r 
many years. The Company possesses large oyster grounds, and a fi° e 
fleet of boats kept for the purpose of dredging and planting 
beds ; it is established under the Joint Stock Companies Act, but 
there is no other way of entrance into it but by birth, as none ol 
the free dredgermen of the town can hold shares. When a man <li e9 
his interest in the Company dies with him, but his widow, if he leaW 3 
one, obtains a pension. The alfairs of the Company are managed by 
twelve directors, who are called “ the jury.” 
“ The layings at Whitstable,” to summarise Mr. Bertram, “ occupy 
about a mile and a half square ; and the oyster-beds have been s ° 
prosperous as to have obtained the name of the ‘ happy 
