The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1885-04-04
eaMsfnINa Aeour OYSTERS.
a Lecturer Tells What He Knows About
the Popular Bivalye.


Sew York Times Raaogt1
The shell of the oyster was next taken
up -, hat is the meaning, asked
lTof Albert $. Bickmore, in hi lecture,
'of the back mark in an oyster she'll!
1t is sometimes called the heart mark.
That is an error, as the heart is not
located there. The black mark is the
place whore the muscles are attached to
the Shell Tie shell of an
oyster, as with the clam, is
brought apart by the elasticity Of
ligancnt, The moment an oyster dies it's
shell opens, for the mechanical elasti-
city Of the ligament is retained" The
black mark could be traced all down
through the shell as il was passed down
by tie successive layers deposited from
within. The stomach Of an o, Ster was
pronounced highly complicated. None
OF the biyal es had anything analogous
to teeth, and the gastric auce sacreted
by the liver might be said to contain all
the properties OF the gastric .iuicc of the
human stomach, the saliva and tho bile,
and hau great dissol,ing power. The
heart of an oyster is composed OF two
parts. The conyolutions around the
stomach made the liver-like organ seen
in 0, stcrs A con olutel ortion out
side OF the liver was where the eggs
were formed in the female.
There are males and females in
American oysters" was Il statement of
the lecturer that was met with tonsid-
cradle interest, but the common oyster
Of Europe combines the two sexes. The
young in English oysters, he explained,
instead of being waited oat TO go it on
their own account were carried into the
gills OF the parent until they filled up
the SUI stance, and it seemed strange
that the animal could breathe. The
young were {, out l. 0 tn of an inch in
diameter. They were kept in the gIls
for some time, wien they swan out
and began lie for themselves The
Americana oyster was about 1-25Oth of
an inch IN diameter when it struck
out for itself he babies had Il great
fonduoSs for attaching them
selves to the shell oil the mother, and
this fact has been taken advantage of
by cu.tiyators, who scattered shells in
tue beds. The lower valve Of an oyster
was always the deeper one A p zee of
seaweed to which were attached thou
sands o. young oysters was shown mucb
enlarged upon the screen. livery one
Of these oysters might have lived, for
tie seawccd wog!d aisintegrate and each
would float o. by himself How many
young two parents could produce in a
season was matter OF onjectufe, for
they could not be counted. The nun
Der had been estimated from 100000
up to 100, 0J6,0V0 An oyster would
grow, probably, in proportion to the
quantity of food which reached it. The
number of layers in the shell had no
connection with the age of an oyster
g ystereSfave leen cultivated for use
ever since ne time OF luXLro Rome,
said the professor 4 1t was in the lake
Of Ftsare that oysters were cultivated
when tie buried cities were above the
ground. A canal was long ago cut to
the Aediterranean, and it i, now one
of the most successful oyster establish
ments in Europe. "
1rofessOr Bickmore said that grea
banks of oysters once existed on the
coast of Maine, and there was no reason
t why they should not again, for further
north, in the gulf of It. awrence, wer
found oysters of very large 81 Q. Tn,
. garden of the oyster however wa;
Chesapeake lay. The dimunition il
quantity had been one-third in tire,
years The remedy was cultivation
which could be carried On to an endles
extent If everybody was allowed t,
go and rake of adult oysters they woul
disappear, ust as in the Adirondack
the trees were going down How lurg
could an oyster be! In tie mu
scum was a fossil specimen twcnt
t inches long. In closing, Professor sick
. more spole Of the pearl oysters, and de
A Scribed the methods Of dredging an,
e raking for the biyalyes.