380 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
lost during transport. The green oysters are said, moreover, not only to retain their 
color, but to bear the fatigue of journeying as well as those raised in tidal parks. 
Fortunately for the claire culture the winter at Marennes is not a severe one, and the 
only precaution to be taken is to slightly increase the depth of water. More than 2 
inches of ice rarely occur. 
Before shipment to market two processes may be employed, giving the oyster an 
additional value to the connoisseur. The first, termed degorgement, frees the oyster 
from any traces of sand or mud that may have been ingested with its normal food. 
The second would with us be called education ; it trains the oyster to bear the fatigues 
'of transport. 
Of degorgement but few words need be said. Oysters, especially those that have 
fattened upon a soft, marly bottom, usually show outward traces of black indigested 
matter contained in the intestine. The oyster loses these traces of coloring naturally 
when allowed to remain tranquilly upon a hard bottom in clear water. Cemented or 
stone-masoned basins or tanks are conveniently employed; the oysters are scattered 
over the bottom, the water is admitted, and the oysters allowed to remain for a week 
or a fortnight. (Plate lxxyiii, Fig. 2.) As a rule the basins of degorgement are divided 
by brick walls into smaller areas of perhaps 25 feet square, enabling one compartment 
to be emptied without inconvenience to others. A typical basin, seen in Plate lxxviii, 
Fig. 2, is at the margin of the Soudre, at La Tremblade, Marennes. The small tram- 
way is one of the features of a French oyster park; the wide platform cars, passing 
from the shops along the embankment, are found most convenient in transportation. 
These basins may sometimes be used for the second process, that of accustoming 
the oysters to an out-of-the-water existence. The basins may for several days be 
allowed to fill or empty, according to the tide. It is found, even in this brief time, that 
the margins of the shells will fit more tightly together and retain the fluids of the 
oyster for a longer time during transportation. If concreted basins are lacking, the 
oysters are simply strewn on the shore between tide limits for the same length of time. 
The shells are finally cleaned, first by a jet of water from a portable hand pump, then 
by brush or broom. Shells incrusted by Serpula or Membranipora are scoured with 
a metal brush. 
Oysters are often purchased directly from the eleveur , whose duty it is to keep his 
customers informed of current prices of the different grades and sizes. The oysters 
are carefully packed in bracken fern by the two, four, or eight dozen, and the box for- 
warded, express paid, to the residence. A consumer is thus apt to receive the oysters 
in a perfectly fresh condition. An order, for example, may be left with the agent in 
Paris at 8 o’clock Friday night; this is received at Marennes the afternoon of the 
following day; and the fresh oysters will be delivered in Paris in time for the Sunday 
dinner. If thus ordered the prices can certainly not be regarded as exorbitant. The 
green oysters of the best grade will cost at the home of the purchaser from 1 to 4 cents, 
while for half of this price may be bought the largest and finest Portuguese. 
