, 1874-12-27

! |
bed. 1t is q moonlight night. about the close o
| summer. Hark !! what singular sound is that
Boom! boom! boom! Almost aepulchral. and
strange to say, it comes up from beponth tht
| waters. Ono would think they Wc1e hcreids
groans. Tho oystermcn, whose capital lies III
vested there, hear it with sad forebodinga o1
lose, which thoy cannot we'll sustain. It is one
OF . school Of visitors who come with maraud'
.SSe purpose =, The fishermen ga Gull i:
nmonE naturalists by tho namo Pogonias
chromis. The acknowledged beat OF this scamp
IL the Gulf stream, from Cape Cod to Florida
and = terrible fellow is this Posonias, for ho il
recorded as having attained the gzeat weight OF
80 pounds. Ono Of 25 pounds would bo but an
ordinary Affair." Their mouths are furnished
NTH pavoments Of hard teeth, = little rounding
on the top, aud sct together exactly as are the
cobble-stoncs OF the old city highways. Tho
the young oysters, which, after being crushed,
are thus swallowed. shells and atI. Al these
! monsters come in shoals, they sometimes intlios
serious damage on IN oyster-bed. Not long neo,
at Newport, N. j., visit OF this kind cost tho
oystor-p1anters somo $4,000. Said eminent
| naturalist, ''No fish has teeth strong enough to
crush oystor-shells." This is certainly mistake
| I believe that oysterman regard 3-year-old
oyster ~ comparatively safe in this respect, and
| their apprehensions appeTtain to the younger
| beds.
HOW THE sTAR-F1Bu TAKES Ills OYSTERS.
| It iB curious to note the silly stories tina: are
| told in tho panao OF natural history. There is
one that Bays the star-ish puts bis fingers or rays
! into tho oysters sheil and helps itself. From
every point Of consideration the thing is 1licu-
| iously impossible A more sober Judgment is
| tha. given By some naturalsts, namely. that the
sea-sta< protrudes it's great ase-Gke stomach, and
! enyelops, to great extent, the oyster therein,
and 40 loiEurely digests the Enollusk out Of its
unopened shell, much as codfiah does the shells
| i. swallows. After having seen young star
fishes eat etnall specimens Chat is such
suited to thoir slze) OF oysters. mussels. and
| scollops, which l have fed to them i'll aquar-
um, give the following al based on number
OF observations: Having brought the oral, or
stomach orihco, exactly opposite tho nib OF the
oyster, tho star embraces tho bivslro with iB five
flexible rays. sided by tho hundreds Of sHcking-
clings firmly, but kccis itself quite still and
waits very patiently. After wbilo the instinct
OF the oyster will bo at fault, and it will open
as it no enemy were near. At this moment,
it eceus to me, ia injected from the oral oridce
OF tho star balefnl -. sidereal blast" 1t is
something that para1yzes the molusk because
from that moment the yalTes Of the oyster
opened to their full extent. and tho hold OF the
flexible rays is relaxed. Instantly singular
variation OF the performance sets III. The rays
arc Withdrawn and set back to back the stomach
il protruded. and the doubled-up star intrudes
itself into tho oyster, the eyicted stomach lead
lng the way in tho movement and absorbing its
victim. II the famous ''lndla-rubhor man" could
THROW .DAEEH1Iu ula hlul6, 4Cbag Huu UtAus
aud in this position could then infuso hin.aclf,
stomach first, into partially y-opened wri.ing-
desk. ho would rival this feat Of the aea-star,
without the v!llainy Of injecting chlo.oform
through tho keynolo.
GROWTH OF THE OYSTER.
II now to this triple draft. occasloned By tho
anchoring. the shell-growth, and the: develop
ment OF the internal organs, ono should add tho
necessity OF procuring food in tho usual amount
and bytho usual meanB, would not the combined
= $.on ~t.191a& Harrr $hn
ture's powers and resources? It should bo OBJ
served too, that now the food necessity is moro |
urgent tlaap at any other period Of its existence.
It ia also observable that tho banquet prepared |
ia amper than at any other time This IS surely !
striking instance in lowly quarters Of wise |
conversion Of material and force. AM aware |
TINT this pad is differently disposed Of by some |
naturalsts; that it is said to drop t
of, to bo wasted, hut as l have wit !
messed similar utilization Of IN otherwise |
I believe thht observation will establish this !
view. And how remarkable this internal change, |
30 rapidly progressing in the little oyster. It iB
d series OF almost magic transformations. Tho
ella, 1hich served it for locomotive and breath
ing organs, disappear, ard within appear tr,le
branchlR, like those Of its mother. \ stomach,
too, Is now built mp. aud the labia1 fingers are
provided. And that tiny. true heart appears. to
tho music Of whose beating the littlo creature
begins in earnest its ife-work, ~ perfect oys-
ter, although hardly yet larger than tho head OF
a pin. When month old, it equals large pea
in size; ut months, it is an inch or moro in
length at years it IS large and amply ready for
market. oven at years, II tho conditions OF
growth have been favorable.
WHY NOT EAT OYSTERS N SUMMER?
According to the popular notion, which III the
main is correct the Spawning season OF oysters
rhose months Which hayo no III their
spelling. namoly, May, June. July, and August,
+shc four warm months of tho year. Tho fact is
that oysters generally do their spawning during
hese four months but 8 fev arc liable to spawn
whenever tic water is warm enough, and large
numbers raas through the year without spawn
ing; aud these, were it not for the difficulty OF
assorting item. would be available for food at
10y time. But the prejudice is universal against
their use during tho T,less months. That they
Ire not in az good condition then as during tho
cooler months, is reasonable to suppose. but |
hat they are all necessarily unwhoesome in the
warm months is fRr from being proved In
business phrase, oyssers in spawning time arc
,aid to be s'm1lKy." This means the presence Of
IN opaline fluid in considerable abundance and ;
which has to do with the wants Of it's young
perhaps, remotely, sort of fluid amnion.
HOW OYSTERS ARE BORN.
Our biyalGe. however, does not spawn after
he manner OF molluBks generally. It is, in its
'wn way, vivlparous~ It docs not emit eggs
tut, at the proper time, sends forth its young
live. The eggs arc dislodged from tho ovaties
md committed TO the nu1sing caro- OF the gill
nd mantel. At first each egg seems to bc ill.,
loscd in capsule. It is OF yellowish color,
nut as incubation or development progresses tho c
o!or changes, first to = gray. then to brown, i
nd afterward to violet. This is aign TINT ,
ssues her writ to that effect. And wonderful l.
title beings they when the writ arrives TO | t
acate tho homestead. Tor whole troops of them t
an 60 gracefully, and without josthng, through =
"a drop of water. AS cited by F. ". Eel c
owes, in tho american Naturalist, saws N, t