Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1881-09-22

Prom the Baltimore Gazette.
Every oyster has mouth, a heart.
liver "A stomach, cunningly devised
intestnes and other necessary organs.
just as all living, moving aud intelli.
gent creatures have. And all these
things are covered from mans rudeiy-
inquistiye gaze by mantle Of pearly
gauze, whose woof and warp put 10
shame the frost lace on your windows
in winter. The mouth is at the small
er end Of the oyster, adjoining the
hinge. 1t is Of oval shape, aud, though
not readily seen by an unpracticed
eye, its location and size can be easily
discovered by gently pushing a blunt
bOdkin or similar instrument along
the surface Of the locality mentioned.
When the spot is found your bodkin
can be thrust between delicate lips and
II considerable distance down toward
the stomach without causing the oys-
ter TO yell with pain. From this
mouth, l., Of course, sort of canal
TO convey food to the stomach. whence
il passes into the intcstincs. With an
exceedingly delicate and sharp knife
YOU can take oil the mantle" of the
oyster, where there will be disclosed to
YOU n half.mooD-shaped space just
above the muscle or so-called "neart."
This space is the oysters peridium,
and within it i the real heart, the
pulsations of which are readily seen.
This heart is made up Of two parts.
just as the human heart j., one of
which receives the blood from the gills
through a network of blood vessels,
and the other drives the blood out
through arteries In this important
matter the oysters differs in no respect
from the other warm or cold bloodcd
animals. And no one need laugh in
crcluously At the assertion that oysters
have blood IL is no. ruddy, accord
ing to the accepted notion about blood,
but it i nevertheless blood to all
oyster intent, and purposes. In the
same vicinity, and in marvellous prop
or positions, will be found all the 9TH
cr organs named. But it j. very
proper to he incredulous about the
mouth aud organs. At iir.t glance it
would seem that they are utterly use
less. for the mouth cannot snap around
for food. aud the oyster has no arms
wherewilh to grab Its dinner or lunch.
True, apparently, but not apparently.
for each oyster has more than 1000
arms, tiny, delicate, almost invisible.
And each one of them is necessarily
at work gathering up food aud gen.
tly pushing it into the lazy mouth Of
the indolenily comfortable creature.
The gills are thin flaps 80 notably
perceptible around the iron; face part
of the undresscd oyster. below the
muscle Each Of these gill. j. covered
with minute bair.like arms, very close
together, and perpeiually in motion to
and fro in the same uuwearicd dircc.
ton. They catch food from the wa
ter, strain it carefully Of improper
substances, and wait it upward over
the mantle's smooth surface to the
gaping mouth, which placidly gobbles
it up until hunger is appeased aud
then the body goes to sleep without
turning over. Any one who can OBJ
serve this singular process of feeding
by placing n minute quantity Of some
harmless coloring matter on the gills /.
If it will not offend the oysters deli |
cate palate the coloring will be seen
at once propelled by Invisible hands /
toward the mouth, and thence slowly /
down into the stomach. And this is /
all | know about oyster anatomy, ex-
cept the liver almost entirely sur.
rounds the stomach aud is of dark 1
green color. 1t may be new, how
ever, to many to know that oysters |
are born precisely the same way the
shad and other FISH come into the
world. A well-educnied lady oyster
will lay about l25,000, 900 eggs--so it
is said | have not counted enough of /
them TO strike such a large avenge-
aud every one OF these eggs ultimate.
ly become fit for stew or fry il they
escape the multitude Of perils that do
environ the infant oyster.