Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1881-10-08
The Anatomy OF an Oyster.


From the Baltimore Gazette.
Every oyster has mouth, q heart, a liver. a
stomach, cunning devised intestines, and other
necessary organs, just well as all living, NOV
ing and intelligent creatures have. And all
: these things are covered from mans rudely
s'nquisitive gaze by mantle Of pearly gauze
whose wool and warp put to shame the frost
lace on your windows in winter. The mouth is
at the smallest end of the oyster, adjoining the
hinge. 1t is Of oval shape, and though not
readily seen by an unpractiseq eye. its location
and size can easily be discovered by pushing
a blunt Dodkin or similar instrument along the
surface of the locality mentioned. When the
between the delicate lips and considerable
distance down towards the stomach without
causing the oyster to yell with pain. From
this mouth is, of course, q sort of canal to
convey the food to the stomach, whence it
passes into the intestines With IN exceed
ingly delicate and sharp knife you can take off
the mantle of the oyster. when there will be
disclosed to you halt moon shaped space just
above the muscle or Sso-called heart This
space is the oysters pericardium, and within it
ls the real heart, the pulsations of which are
readily seen This heart is made ND of two
OF which receives the blood from the gil1s
through a network of blood vessels, and tho
other drives the blood out through arteries In
this important matter the oyster differs in no
respect from other warm or cold blooded ami
mails. And no one need laugh incredulously
at the assertion that oysters have blood. It is
not ruddy, according to the accepted notion
about blood, but it is nevertheless blood to all
oyster intents and purposes. In the same vi
entity, and IN marvelously proper positions,
will be found all the other organs named. But
it is very proper to he incredulous about tina
mouth and organs. At first glance it would seem
that they are utterless useless, for the mouth
cannot snap around for food. and the oyster
has no arms wherewith to grab its dinner or
lunch. True, apparently. but only apparently,
for each oyster has more than O thousand
ar1ns-tiny, delicate, almost invisible And
each one OF them is necessarily OF work gath
ering up food and gently pushing it into the
lazy mouth Of the indolently comfortable crea-
ture. The giis are the thin flaps SO notably
perceptlble around the front face part of the
unaressed oyster, below the muscle. Each of
these gills is covered with minute hair-like
arms, very close together, and perpetually in
motion to and fro in she same unwearied di-
tection. They catch food from the water,
STRAIN 1t carefully OF improper substances, and
watt it upward over the mantle's smooth sur
placidly gobbles it up until hunger
is appeased, and then the body goes
to sleep without turning over Any one can
observe this singular process of feeding by
coloring matter on the gllls. If it will offend
the oyster g delicate palate the coloring matter
will be seen at once propelled by invisible
hands towards the mouth, and thence slowly
down into the stomach. And this is all know
about oyster anatomy, except that the liver al
most entirely surrounds the stomach and is of
q dark green color, It may be new to many
to know that oysters are born precisely the
same way the shad and other fish come into the
world. A well-educated lady oyster will lay
about 125, 100000 eggs-so it is said. I have
not counted enough of them to strike such
large average-and every one of these eggs
escape the multitude of perils that do environ
the infant oyster.