14 BULLETIN 740, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
morning. In all these tables allowance has been made for all samples 
removed. Due to the fact that the oystors settled to the bottom of 
the tank and formed a compact mass which was almost impervious 
to water, very little opportunity was offered for osmotic action to 
take place, and the volume of the oysters remained practically con¬ 
stant throughout the experiment. In the periods of disturbance, 
however, which occurred while the oysters were being measured and 
the water was being removed fresh water came into contact with the 
oysters, and some of it remained with them in the bottom. Thus, 
a little osmotic action other than that at the top of the mass took 
place, and solution progressed continuously, though somewhat slowly. 
Since the volume remained practically constant throughout this exper¬ 
iment, it is evident that all the loss observed in this case must be due 
to solution or mechanical loss. In this case mechanical loss was 
small. In commercial pratice oysters never are subjected to such 
long continued action of water, but this experiment proves that a 
large percentage of the substance of the oyster is soluble in fresh 
water, and that osmotic distention is negligible in oysters washed 
in a tank without agitation. As is to be expected, the purely soluble 
constituents show a much more marked decrease than do the total 
solids, which include both soluble and insoluble substances. 
Experiment 2 .—This experiment was carried out in the same way 
as was Experiment 1, with the same purpose in view. On the third 
day, however, the samples were taken from the bottom of the tank 
instead of from a representative sample of the whole, as was usually 
done, in order to determine whether or not the bottom oysters were 
being affected by the water. The results show very clearly that 
they were not being so affected, as the percentages of total solids, etc., 
did not change during 24 hours of soaking. The percentages show 
the same relative decrease as in Experiment 1. 
Experiment 3 .—Having established the fact that a marked pro¬ 
portion of the solid substance of the oyster is soluble in fresh water, 
it becomes desirable to discover what proportion of the apparent 
loss of the various substances is due to actual loss in the wash water, 
and what is due to the increase in volume of the oyster. In this 
experiment, 20 gallons of oysters were taken from the chute imme¬ 
diately before entering the agitation tank, carefully measured into 
one of the tanks, and washed in the regular way, except that the 
washing was continued for one hour. Samples were taken before 
the process was started and at 15-minute intervals during washing. 
Detailed discussion of this and following experiments will be taken 
up later in connection with Table 7. 
Experiment J +.—This experiment was conducted in an oysterhouse 
in which the old system of washing was used. Five gallons of 
shucked oysters were measured out and placed upon the skimmer. 
