perhaps, at the idea of the solitary oyster doing this, down there 
on his mud bank or rocky anchorage ground, shut up in his dirty 
looking shell, and holding, as it seems, commune with no one, 
not even his fellow mollusks. How can he be said to live in royal 
state, or, indeed, any state at all, except in a most weary, stale, 
flat and unprofitable one. And this only shows how erroneously 
we often judge, when we do so hastily, and from first appear¬ 
ances. If we use a microscope we shall see that the shells of the 
oyster family differ from other bivalves, they being a world in 
themselves occupied by an innumerable quantity of animals com¬ 
pared to which the oyster itself is a colossus. Modern naturalists 
say that the liquid enclosed between the shells of the oyster con¬ 
tains a multitude of embryos, covered with transparent scales, 
which swim with ease; a hundred and twenty of these embryos, 
placed side by side, would make an inch in breadth. This liquid 
contains besides, a great variety of animalculae, five hundred 
times less in size, which give out a phosphoric light. These are 
not the only inhabitants of this dwelling—there are also three dis¬ 
tinct species of worms. By the aid of an aquarium it can be 
positively seen that the oyster is by no means solitary in his bi¬ 
valve palace as might be supposed. He has his torch-bearers and 
other attendants, quite a host of them, magnificently dressed, and 
well instructed in the several duties which they have to perform. 
Yes certainly as the Irish poet has said— 
“ Of all the conchiferous shell fish, 
The oyster is surely the king.” 
The u spat ” or spawn of the oyster is cast about the middle of 
May ; at first it resembles a drop of greenish tallow, but by the 
aid of the microscope it may be seen to consist of a great number 
of minute particles, each of which is an egg. These increase in 
size very rapidly, and after floating about for a while, sink to the 
bottom, and become attached to rock or some other substance, in 
which position, if not violently detached or removed, they com¬ 
plete their growth and live out the term of their natural life. 
They feed on minute animalculae and microscopic vegetation, on 
the nature of which their flavor greatly depends. Aside from 
man who is their greatest enemy there is the star fish, whelk, 
crab and the large drum fish, which swallow them almost by the 
