Sharp County record., 1881-06-30
The Anatomy Of an Oyster.

L.E AHa4AUAAN "a " aNN-H
Every oyster has q mouth. heart, q
liver. q stomach CunuiugiY devised IN
lestiues and other necessary organs,
lust as all living, moving and intelligent
creatures have. And all these things
are covered from man rudely lnqulsl-
rive gaze bva mantle Of peaTly gauze,
whose Woof and warp put to shame the
front lace. on YOUR windows in winter.
The mouth IS n the smaller end Of the
OYSTER. adjoining the hinge. It's OF oval
shane. and. though not readily seen Ov
an unDracCiced eve. is location and
size can be easily discovered ov gently
pushing q blunt bOdkI1 or similar IN
strume1t along the surface OF the local
itv mentioned. When the spot S found
v0ur bOdkin can be thrust between the
delicate lips and acOlsideraDIe distance
down towards the stomach without
causing the oyster to yell with pam.
From this mouth IS. Of course 4 sort Of
canal to convey food to the stomach.
whence II passes into the IutestlneS.
With III exceedingly delicate and sharp
knife YOU can take of the % mantle. 0G
the OYSTER. when there viii be disclosed
TO YOU haIf-mOOn shaped space Just
above the muscle. or so-ealled - heart. '
This SPACE IS the OYSTERS DerIcardlun-
and within in It IS the real heart. the
UuLsatiOns Of which are readily seen.
This heart is made up OF TWO parts, Just
sthe human heart IS. one OF which re-
ceiTes the blood from the gills through
q anetwOrk Of blood vessels. and the other
drives the blood out through arteries.
In this important matter the oyster dlI-
fers in no respect from other warm or
coLd-bLOOded animals. And no one
need Laugh iucredulOUsiT NJ the Is
serriou that oysters have blood. 1t
is not ruddv, according to the ac-
eeuted notion about blood, but It IS
nevertheless blood to al OYSTER IN
tents and purposes. In the same TicIn-
icv and in m1rvelOUslVproDer positions.
VIII be found all the other organs named
But iC IS very proper to be iucredu-OUs
about that mouth and 0rEgns. At l.rsJ
g.ance it would seem that they are Ut
terIv useless. IOr the mouth cannot -Eap
around tOr food. and the oyster has no
arms wherewiLh to -raD lis dinner Or
lunch. True apparently, but only ap-
Darentlv. for each oyster has more than
a thousand arms. tiny, delicate. almost
invisible. And eacn one OF them is In
cessautIv at work gathering I'D food
and gently pushing it into the .azT
mouth # the iulI.el-iT comfortable
creature. The -i.is are the thin flaps
So notably perceprI1le around the front
face part Of the uudressed OYSTER. be-
low the muscle. Each Of these gi.ls IS
covered with minute L2.--ii1e arms,
very close together and perDe-uaIIV in
motion to and fro in the same IN
g7earied direction. They catch food
from the wafer. strain 1t carefully Ot
improper substances. and wait il up
ward over the mantle S smooth surface
70 the raUilE mouth. which DLac.dlT
g0b5Ies it up U--i. hunger IS auDeassd.
and then the body goes TO sleep with
out turning over. ANY one can observe
this singular process oifeeding by p.4c-
ing @ minute quantity of some harmless
c0.Oriug matter on the gilIs. lit viii
not offend the OYSTER delicate palate
the coL0riug matter viii be seen ut once
propelled lv invisible hands towards
the mouth and thence slowly down n
to the stomach. And this is all [ know
about oyster anatomy. except that the
liver almost entirely surrounds the
stomach and is Of p dark green color.
It may BE new, however. TO many TO
know that oysters are born precisely
The same way the shad and other ish
come into The world. i weI educated
lady oyster VIII laY about l25,Jl1.u.O
errs-s0 it IS said; ILave not counted
enough Of them To strike such o large
average every one Of those eggs
will ultimately become tit for stew or
Try il they escape the multitude OF
neriIs that DO environ the infant oyster.
-EIGWDrg Tu.sltg.