Morning journal and courier., 1882-07-20

l by individual action, as each young oyster gifted with slight flial affection-seems eager l to remove as far as possible from it's parent and the place of it's birth, and fearlessly l swims away, henceforward to take care of l itself and find it's own means of existence. These independent little ones provided
 with a special locomotive apparatus, which l is at the same time organ of respiration,
 and perhaps of hearing and of vision,--by | means of which they disperse themselyes at l the proper time in search of some hard and solid body like @ stone, a branch, or shell
 to which they can attach themselves and l ''settle down" for life.
 1 Nothing is more curious and more inter
 esting," says M. Davaine in his s'Recherches ! sbr Io generation des huitres" than to see, l under the microscope, these little molusks
 travel round the portion of drop of water l which contains them in vast numbers, mutu- 1 ally avoiding one another, crossing each oth-
 CTS track in every direction with a wonder
 ful rapidity, never touching and never meet ing"
 | This curious motive power consists of a 1 great number of hair-like flaments. called l cjLi0, which take their rise in dark-colored l heshy mass that emerges from, and overlaps | the valves of the oyster on the edge opposite to, and farthest from the hinge, and operated I by powerful muscles, can be at pleasure drawn entirely within the valves.
 If the young wanderer meets with any
 hard substance it clings to it, and in few ] hours-as it is at this time rapidly making it's l shell-a calcareous deposit fixes it there, and. ! in due course of time, the cilia drop off
 But even if no such suitable object presents
 itself, these wanderings must certainly soon ! come to an end.
 The base of the locomotive apparatus ! gradually narrows this organ becomes more 1 and more prominent, until 1t IS only attached
 by single slender membrane to the oyster, I-which still continues to travel with it,
 when, at last. it entirely detaches itself from
 the oyster, which at once sinks, incapable of
 farther motion, while the cilia keep on swim ! ming but, like vessel without helm or pilot, their motion is undirected, they roll over and over ou themselves, colliding with
 everything in their course, and, though they
 can hardly be said to die, soon cease to move
 As soon as the cilia are removed the oyster ! commences life in earnest; lips to seize it's
 food, and stomach to digest it, are devel- ! oped 6aunchi3, or respiratory organs ap- ! pear the heart reveals itself and begins to ! beat all the functions necessary for exls-
 tence are set in motion in good working or ! der; and if fortunately placed for obtaining
 infusorial and vegetable nourishment, in | three or four years this embryo "Cove" or 'Millpond" or Shrewsbury" will become 8 ! delicate mouthful for the consumer.
 Though there are many other enemies Of the modest and inoffensive oyster, there are ! three which are specially feared, and cause l the greatest loss to the planter in American ! waters, namely, the ''Starfsh" (Aste'las d1e'o
 icoIa Simpson,, the 'Drilp' (Buccinum phco ! sum GOuld) and the ''WlnkleS'' (I>y1Ut0 CU- ! ndIicudt0 and P. c0ric1.
 ! All are familiar with the appearance of the , starish though few, even of old oystermen accustomed to annual losses from this five l fingered pest, are acquainted with the man. , ner in which 1t IS so destructive. Even writers upon the oyster, whose general infor nation upon this subject should have taught them better have fallen into the same error of supposing that the taper fingers are intro duced between the valves, and, in some mys-
 terious manner, kill and devour the contents
 The starfsh is provided with an extenslble mouth situated in the middle of the under
 side, and can only injure an oyster of cer I tain size relative to its own. If the oyster IS small enough, it is swallowed shell and all the body Is digested and the shell ejected But if it's victim is little too large for this
 operation, nature has provided this scourge ? l with the power to turn it's stomach inside
 out, envelop the unhappy oyster and absorb l ! the dainty flesh within by means of gastric juice. A. Agas iz, in Seaside Studies, y = speaks of this peculiarity follows: ''These l | animals have a singular mode of eating @ they place themselves over whatever they
 ! mean to feed upon, as a cookie shell for in ! stance, the back gradually rising as they arch a 1 themselves above it they then turn the di s gestive SAC, or stomach, inside out, so as te
 1 enclose their prey completely, and proceed ' leisureiy to suck out the animal from it!
 1 she'll
 When nothing more within the shell re ' mains to be eaten the stomach is turned bacl again, and, gifted with constant and insati '- able appetite, the starfish is ready to recon
 mence It's filthy feeding upon the first oyster If within it's reach. The countless suckers oI u the underside of this animal are used onl. l. for locomotion, just as the fly walks upon thu e ceiling by means of a similar contrivance ol l. the feet The general belief that the star
 fish takes its nourishment in some mysteri e ous way by means of these suckers is conse 1T | quently erroneous one, as they have n' e openings at the ends and do not connect il d any way with the stomach.
 Tt The drill is a troublesome and destructiv 70 intruder upon the oyster-bed, the more g. se that, from it's small size and rapid multipli 70 cation, it is difficult to eradicate fro m local
 ity when it has once colonized in force .e Whole beds sometimes taken up am s. transplanted to avoid this detestable httl n thief. A slightly different species of tn o drill forms no small item of cheap food fo n the French peasants. They call it the BigoI ,l neau (1hurer t0reftinus), and, when boiled IF the meat is picked out with large needle r. It's flavor is excellent, though it Is repulsiv
 in appearance, being of dark green colo x and having decided spiral tail, which rer '' ders it anything but inviting to a perso
 about to eat it for the first time.
 8. The drill has dark ridgy, conical shel e. about an iDch long, and by the help of
 broad, flat, heshy foot, with which it is pre n" vided fixes itself exactly over what is con
 monly called the eye of the oyster, and b
 means of a rough fle-like tongue, which
 moves forward and back, over the chose ,l- spot, soon drills round hole through th ;,, shell and sucks out the life and juices ot th
 oyster at its leisure.
 D. The wrinkles much larger species ( ae the same tribe and destroy the oyster in os similar manner, only not being so numerou
 they cause less damage, and are not so muc
 dreaded by the oyster planter as the lltt LII drill.
 le The oysters to be found on the ctt1te of an Il good restaurant in Paris are,-the commo K oyster, price fifteen cents per dozen tt h. h. Ostend, price thirty-fve cents per dozen ,l ul the Marennes, or green, price thirty -h' SIX cents per dozen and the Imperial, prIt III forty cents per dozen.
 oA Each variety has peculiarity and it's spe TO ial admirers. The last three, during tt ul winter months, are fat and full -favore' SC though small the Ostend and Imperi by being English born, but cultivated and m lei nipulated in France. The French cyst, al- shell is more round and fiat than our owl rs the body lying in a sudden deep depressic Ill., close up to the hinge, while conslderao n- | space of tue interior of the shell Is unocc nd pied by anything except the mantle. do 'ss en of either of the last three varieties Is Fai better appetizer to commence a dinner wit nl- than any kind known in this country whi oe for cooking in every form the much larg size of the American oyster renders it fl ng superior.
 la- The French lay great stress upon havir ice the shell of this oyster extremely clean (dIt on nett0Ye) A gentleman at Marennes, WI gre cutivates the green oyster, has recent lte erected a tide -mill-for which he has p
 tent-for the double purpose of smoothi, ;or the roughness and perfectly cleansing tl ral outside, and of wearing off enough weig on of shell by taitttrdti0n to save dollar freig JUS JUS on the railway carriage to Paris, of pGn' 'th containing thousand.