National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-12-25
CHILDREN AND BOYS SUITS AT
EISEMAN BROS, sos Seventh street.
SOMETHING ABOUT OYSTERS.

HOW THEY ARE PRODUCED, REARED
AND WHY NOT EATEN IN SUMMER.
Professor Lockwood, in 9 very interesting arti-
Gle in the December number Of Popular Science,
gives a history OF the birth, growth, and utility
of oysters, which will be found very pleasant and
instructive reading:
FISH THAT TAKES HIS OYSTERS IN THE WHOLE
SHELL.
We are seated in q boat, and gliding through
the phOsphOreseent seheen, soon near the oyster
bed. 1t is q moonlight night, about the close Of
summer. Hark! what singular sound is that?
Boom! bOoml boom! Almost sepUlchral, and,
strange to say, 1t Gomez up from beneath the wa
tiers. One would think they were Nereids' groans-
The oystermen, whose capital lies invested there,
hear it with sad forebodngs Of loss, which they
cannot well sustain. 1t is one ofR school Of visit
ors who come with msraudsnE purpose. The
fishermen call It the big drum. This drum-hsh
is known among naturaIistS by the name POgoHisS
chromiS. The acknowledged beat ofthIs sOampis
the Gulf Stream, from Cape Cod to- Florida; and
4 terrible fellow is this PogoniRs, for he Is
corded as having attained the great weight Of
eighty pounds. One Of twenty-five pounds would
be but an ordinary affair. Their mouths are fur
nished with pavements Of hard teeth, q little
rounding on the top, and set together exactly as
are the cobble-stones OF the old city highways.
The function Of these dental pavements is to
crunch the young oysters, which after being
crushed are thus swallowed, shells and all. As
these monsters come in shoals, they sometimes in
tiict serious damage on an oyster-bed. Not long
ago, at Reyport, New Jersey, visit OF this char
acter cost the oyster planters some $4,000 Said
an eminent naturalist, mo fish has teeth strong
enough to crush oyster shells" This is certainly
q mistake. believe oystermen regard q three
year-old oyster as comparatively safe in this re-
spect, and their apPrehensions sppertain to the
younger beds.
HOW THE srAR-FIsH TAKES HIS OYSTERS.
1t Is curious to read the silly stories that are
told in the name of Natural History. There is
that says that the starhsh puts its fingers rays
into the oysters shell, and helps ITSELF From
every point of consideration the thing is ridlcu-
lousy impossible. more sober Judgment Is that
given by some naturalists, namely, that the sea-
star protudes its great sac-like stomach, and en-
velOps to q great extent the oyster therein, and
lelsurey digests the mollusk out Of It's unopened
SHE'LL much as q Goldfish does the shells It swal-
lows. After having seen young star-ishes eat
small specimens (that is. such as were suited to
their size) Of oyster mussels, and scolops, which
have fed to them in an aquarium, give the fol-
lowing as based on number OF observations.
Having brought the oval, or stomach Orihce, ex-
actly opposite the nib 0: the oyster, the star en-
braces tho bivalVe with its nVe flexible rays,
aided by the hundreds Ofsucking- disks on the tiny
feet. Thus positiOned, the star fsh elings firmly,
tiently. After q while the instinct Of the oyster
will be at fault, and 1t will OPEN as If no enemy
were near. At this moment, as it seems to me, is
injected from the oral Orifce Of the star baleful
'ssidereal blast.n 1t is a something that para
lyzes the mollusk; because, from that moment the
and the hold Oft flexible rays is relaxed. In
stantly a singular variation Ofthe performance
sets in. The rays are WithdraWn.and set back to
up star intrudes itself Into the OYSTER the eVicted
stomach leading the way in the movement, and
man" C uld throw backward his arms, legs, and
head and in this position could then infuse him
self stomach hTsT iIt0 Rsr ssa ET
without the villainy Of injecting ehlOroform
through the key-hole.
GROWTH OF THE OYSTER.
II, now, to this triple DRAFT, occasioned by the
anchoring, the shellgroWth, and the develop
ment Of the Internal organs, one should add the
necessity of procuring food in the usual amount,
an by the usual means, would not the combined de-
mand be exhaustive beyond the little creatures
powers and resources? 1t should be observed, too,
that now the food-necessity is more urgent than
at any other period ofits existence. It Is also OBJ
servable that the banquet prepared is ampler
than at any other time. This is surely striking
instance in lowly quarters OF wise conversation
Is differently disposed Of BY some naturalists that
1t is said to drop of, and to be wasted, but as
have witnessed similar utilization Of an other
| wise useless member in ether larval forms, be-
| lieye that observation will establish this view.
And how remarkable this internal change, so
rapidly progressing in the little oyster! 1t is a
series Of almost magic transform tions The eyes
lift had any-are gone. The external ella,
| which served 1t for locomotive and breathing or
gans, disappear, and within appear true branehia,
like those Of its mother. A stomach, too, is now
| built up, and the labial fingers are provided.
And that tiny, true heart appears to the music Of
whose beating the little creature begins In earn
est It's IifeWork, as a peril ct oyster, although
hardly yet larger than the head Of q pin. When
months, 1t is an inch or more In length; at four
years, II is large and amply ready for market or
even atthree years, If the conditions Of growth
WHY NOT EAT OYSTERS IN SUMNER?
According to the popular notisu, which, in the
main, 10 correct, the spaWning-season Of the oys-
ter embraces those months which have In
their spelling, namely, May, June July, and An
/ fact is. that oysters generally do their spawning
during these four months; but q few are liable TO
| spawn whenever the water is warm enough, and
large numbers pass through the year without
spawning; and these, were It not for the di1culty
% ~, i ~ ~ Ixsts .Tr aSonst
| their use during the T-less months. That they
are not in as good condition then as during the
cooler months, is reasonable to suppose; but that
they are all necessarily unWholesomein the warm
months. is far from being proved. In business
| 'milky." This means the presence Of an opallne
/ fluid in considerable abundance, and which has to
DO with the wants Of its young-perhaps, re-
motely, q sort Of fluid amnion.
HOW OYSTERS ARE BORN.
Our bivslve, however, does not spawn AFTER the
manner Of mollusks generally. It is, in its own
way, viviparous. 1t does not emit eggs; but. at
the proper time, sends forth its young alive The
eggs are dislodged from the ovaries a1d commit
ted to the nursing care Of the gill and mantel.
| At first each seems to be inclosed In capsule.
1t is Of yelloWish color but as Incubation or de-
NeiOpDenL prOBfessets the colOE cneuBess Atss "
gray, then 70 q brown afterward TO violet.
This Is sign that the time Of eviction g at hand;
for Nature now issues her writ t. that effect. AMI
wonderful little beings they are when the writ
arrives to vacate the homestead; for whole trooIs
Of them can go gracefully, and without jostling,
through the maziest eVolutlOns In that uniest
sphere-a drop OF water. As cited by +. W Eel
loves, in the 1meTicdH NGturdIisf, says NJ. Da-
vaine: Nothing is more curious than 10 see, IN
der the microscope, these little mollusks travel
in drop Of water, in vast numbers, mutually
avoiding one another, crossing each others track