The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-03-22

oyster Wnen spawning UOoS AO' S:soe avg O66
like other fish, but dissolves, as it were, q
part of it's own body, which passes on in
long, slender threads, as fine rs q spiders
web, upon which are congregated millions
/ of little eggsaot visible to the naked eye,
but which, when put under a powerful mag
| nifyine glass, astOnish the beholder by their
number. 1t is estimated that about seventy
per cent of the spawn is destroyed by fish
and ten per cent from other causes, leaving
about twenty per cent to find their way into
market. These little seed, clinging to what
ever they touch, generally to old oysters,
clinging to large oysters, are but the growth
Of the seed. When Oystershave spawned in q
clear place, and free from their fish enemies,
their growth il very rapid until they attain
the size of a quarter of o dollar; and 1t is at
this period of their existence that the oyster
men take them for transplanting. The shells
are very thin, and the inside meat scarcely
larger than q shirt button, and having the
rest of the shell filed with milky fluid
| which in time forms the body of the fish,
Oysters, after they are transplanted, are
| with few exceptions, not fit to eat under
| oyster, with it's hard shell, was free from all
danger, but such is not the case. He has
| two deadly enemies-the starfish and the
borer. The former will fasten on the mouth
of an oyster, and in o short time suck the
life out of him. The latter, with his little
l saw anu &1I0k0C U1A UOX08 u1IOUku Ills SUOAs
and once through the oyster lie soon des-
troyed.
The REASON WHY BEES WORK IN THE
DARK.-A life time might be spent in inves-
tigating the mysteries hidden in beehive,
and still half the secrets would be undis-
covered. The formation of the cell has long
been celebrated problem for the mathema-
tician, whilst the changes which the honey
undergOes offer at least an equal interest to
the chemist. Every one knows what honey
fresh from the comb is like. 1t is clear
yellow syrup, without trace of solid sugar
in it. Upon straining, however, it gradually
assumes~a crystalline appearance-it candies
as the saying is, and ultimately becomes a
solid lump of sugar. 1t has not been sus-
Dpected that this change was due to pho
tographic action that the same agent which
alters the molecular arrangement of the
iodine of silver ON the excited collodian
plate, and determines the formation of cam
phor and iodine crystals in u bottle, causes
the syrup honey to assume crystalline form.
This, however, is the case. M. Scheibler has
enclosed honey in stoppered TASKS, some of
which he has kept in perfect darkness, while
others have been exposed to the light. The
invariable results have been that the summed
portion rapidly crystalized, while that kept
in the dark has remained perfectly liquid.
We now see why bees work in perfect dark
ness, and why they are so careful to obscure
the glass windows which are sometimes
placed in their hives. The existence of their
young depends on the liquidity of saccharine
food presented to them, and if light were
allowed access to the syrup it would gradu-
ally acquire a more or less solid consistency
it would seal up the cells, and in all proba-
bility prove fatal to the inmates Of the
hive.
EPICUREANIsM,-There is an old saying
that one half of the world don't know how
the other half live; and perhaps it is as well
that 1t is so, because, judging from occa-
sional glimpses we get, things are SO differ
ent in other places from those to which we
have been accustomed that we view them
with disgust. Hence the living of New Zeal
anders and the Esquimaux is not attractive
to New Englander's palate, blubber and
walrus entrails not being of a nature to excite
any gustatory longings in us, however gen.
teel and delicate they may be regarded
among those to the manner born. A recent
glimpse Of Abyssinian customs, likewise,
would not afford an inducement to one of
epicurean tastes to leave his familiar cuisine
for those, and yet it is n matter of curiosity,
to know what and how they do in that far
country among the upper classes. View
travelling through the Chattegay woods,
some years since, and were told that it was
one OF the customs of that part of the coun-
try to catch q deer alive, cut off a venison
steak and let him go. We didn't believe it
then, but since reading the following, we
don't know that we were not a little too in
credulous. IA
A great degree Of skepticism, says Lon
don paper, hasTbeen entertained in regard
to the mode of supplying brinde or raw
meat to the guests of the fashionable parties
at 'Gondar, the capital at Abyssinia. When
the company have taken their seats at the
table, n COW or bull is brought to the door,
and his feet strongly tied; after which the
cooks proceed to select the most delicate
morsels. Before killing the animal, all the
flesh on the buttocks is cut off in solid
sion of blood. Two or three servants are
then employed, who, as fast as they can pro-
cure Drinde, lay it upon cakes of teff placed
like dishes down the table, without cloth OF
anything else beneath them. By this time