The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1874-12-12
and Why They are Not Eaten in the
Summer Months.

Professor Lockwood, in a very interesting
article in the December number of Popula1
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 a boat, and gliding
through the phosphorescent sheen, soon
near the oyster bed. 1t is moonlight
night, about the close of Summer. Hank
what singular sound is that? Boom! boom
boom. Almost sepulchral, and, strange to
say, it comes up from beneath the waters.
One would think they were Nereid groans
The oystermen, whose capital lies invested
there, hear it with sad forbodlngs of loss,
which they cannot well sustain. 1t is one
of a school of visitors who come with ma
rauding purpose. The fishermen call ii
the big drum. This drumfish is known
among naturaliSts by the name P0g0nia,
cromis. The acknowledged beat OF this
scamp is the Gulf Stream, from Cape COP
to Florida; and a terrible fellow is this
Pogonias, for he is recorded as having at
tanned 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, a
little rounding on the top, and set together
exactly as are the cobblestones of the old
city highways. The function of these den
tai pavements is to crush the young oysters,
which, after being crushed, are thus swal-
lowed, shells and all. AS these monsters
come in shoals they sometimes inflict seri,
GUS damage on an oyster bed. Not long
ago at keyport, New Jersey. visit Of this
character cost the oyster planters some
$40, Zoo. Said an eminent naturalist, " Nc
fish has teeth strong enough to crush oys.
ter Shells This is certainly mistake
| believe that oystermen regard a three
year-old oyster as comparatively safe in
this respect, and their apprehensions apper.
tain to the younger beds.
HOW THE STAR FISH TAKES HIS OYSTERS
1t is curious to read the silly stories that
are told in the name of Natural History.
There is one that says that the star fish
puts its fingers or rays in the oysters shell,
and helps itself. From every point of con-
sideration the thing is rdiculously impos-
sible. A more sober Judgment is that given
by some naturalistS, namely, that the sea-
star prOtrudeS its great sac-like stomach,
and envelopes to a great extent the oyster
therein, and so leisurely digests the mollusk
ont of its unopened shell, much as a cod
fish does the shells it swallows. After
having seen young star-tishes eat small
specimens that is, such as were suited to
their size), of oysters, mussels and scollOps,
which | have fed to them in an aquarium,
| gave the following as based on number
of observations: Having brought the oval,
or stomach orifice, exactly opposite the nib
of the oyster, the star embraces the bivalve
with its five flexible rays, aided by the
hundreds of sucking disks on the tiny feet.
Thus POSTPONED, the star-fish clings firmly,
bat keeps itself quite still, and waits very
patiently. After a while the instinct of
the oyster will be at fault, and it vii! open,
as if no enemy were near AT this moment,
as it seems to me, is injected from the oral
oritice of the star a baleful " sidereal blast. -
1t is something that paralyzes the mol
lusk; because from that moment the valves
of the oyster are opened to their full extent,
and the hold of the flexible rays is relaxed
Instantly a singular variation of the per-
torrance sets in. The rays are withdrawn
and set back to back-the stomach is pro-
truded and the doubled-up star intrudes
itself into the oyster, the evicted stomach
leading the way in the movement, and alb
sorbing it's victim. If the famous "India-
rubber man could throw backward his
arms, legs and head and in this position
could then infuSe himself, stomach first
into a partially opened writing desk, he
would rival this feat of the sea star with
out the villainy of injecting chloroform
through the keyhele
GROWTH OF THE OYSTER.
If, now, to this triple draft, occasioned
by the anchoring, the she'll growth, and
the development of the internal organs,
one should add the necessity of procuring
food in the usual amount, and by the usual
means would not the combined demand be
exhaustive beyond the little creatures pow
ers and resources? 1t should be observed,
too, that now the food necessity is more
urgent than at any other period of its exist
ence. 1t is also observable that the ban
quet prepared is ampler than at any other
time. This is surely a striking instance in
lowly quarters of Il wise conversation of
material and force. am aware that this
pad is differently disposed of by some
naturalists; that it is said to drop off, and
to be wasted, but as | have witnessed a
similar utilization of an otherwise useless
member in other laival forms, believe
that observation will establish this view.
And how remarkable this internal change.
so rapidly progressing in the little oyster
1t is u series of almost magic transforma-
tions. The eyes-if it had any-are gone.
The external ella, which served it for loco
motive and breathing organs, disappear,
and within appear true branchiR, like those
of its mother. A stomach, too, is now
built up, and the labial fingers are pro-
vided. And that tiny, true heart appears,
to the music of whose beating the little
creature begins in earnest its lifework, as
a perfect oyster, although hardly yet larger
than the bead of pin. When a month
old, it equals large pea in size; at six
months it is an inch or more in length: at
four years, it is large and amply ready for
market, or even. at three years. if the con
diticns Of growth have been favorable.
WHY NOT EAT OYSTERS IN SUMNER?
According to the popular notion, which,
in the main. is correct, the spawning season
of the oyster embraces those months which
have no in their spelling, namely, May.
June. July, and August, the four warm
months of the year. The fact is, that oys-
iers do their spawning during these four
months; but few are liable to spawn
whenever the water is warm enough, and
large numbers pass through the year with
out spawning; and these, were it not for
the difficulty of asserting them, would be
available for food at any time. But the
prejudice is universal against their use dur
ing the r 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 unwhole-
some in the warm months, is far from being
proved. In business phrase, oysters in
spawning-time are said to be milky
This means the presence of an opaline fluid
in considerable abundance, and which has
to do with the wants of its young-perhaps,
remotely, a sort of fluid amnion.
HOW OYSTERS ARE BORN.
Our bivalve, however does not spawn
after the manner of mollusks generally.
1t is, in its own way, viviparous. 1t does
not emit eggs, but at the proper time sends
forth its young alive. The eggs are dis
lodged from The oyaries and committed to
the nursing care of the gill and mantel.
AT first each egg seems to be inclosed in a
capsule. 1t is of a yellowish color, but as
incubation or development progresses the
color changes, first to a gray, then to a
brown, afterward to a violet. This is
sign that the time of eviction is at hand;
for Nature now issues her writ to that
effect A nd wonderful little haiprS thay