Evening journal., 1899-06-22
TRAITS OF THE OYSTER.
Food, Tnttens In Fresh water and
~ as Nutritious as MIX.


Persons who eat oysters frequently
have doubtless observed that now and
then the oysters set before them are
more or less green in color. There is a
common prejudice against green
oyster. Some persons attribute the col
oring to disease and othersatQ parasites
or to the presence of COPPER. scien-
tific investigation has demonstrated
that this "greening" of oysters is in
reality due to the fact that the oysters
have fed on green plants of simple
structure, which are sometimes found
IN abundance in bracl1ish or salt water.
c. +. Langworthy, Of the Office of expe-
riment stations of the United States de-
partment of agriculture, in q bulletin
on Fish as Food" says that, in the
opinion of those who have investigated
the matter carefully, the green color in
oysters is harmless. In Europe green
oysters are more highly priced than
others. The green color may be re-
moved by placing the oysters for time
in water where the green plants are not
abundant.
1t is a common practice of oyster
dealers, instead of selling the oysters
in the condition in which they are
taken from the beds in salt water, TO
place them for period of about 4s
hours in fresh water, in order to fatten
them. The oystermen call this opera
tion floating" or laying out" The
process gives the oyster plumpness and
rotundity, its bulk and weight being so
increased as to materially enhance its
selling value. The belief is common
among oystermen that this ''fattening"
is due TO actual gain of flesh and fat,
aud that the nutritive value of the
oyster is increased by the process.
Oysters lose much of their salty favor
in floating" however, and it is an es-
tablished fact that if the "fattened"
oysters are left too long on the floats
they become lean again. Careful expe-
riments have shown that oysters taken
out of the natural beds in salt water
and placed in fresh water actually gain
in weight. This is due largely TO the
fact that they lose mineral weight and
gain considerable amount of water.
But there IS an accompanying loss of
nutrients. When in their natural con
dition oysters contain from one-eighth
to one-fifth more nutritive material
than when fattened.
1t is interesting to note that the gov
ernment's experiments, conducted at
the New Jersey stations, thus far have
shown that oysters freshened by float
ing" will not remain alive as long as
those taken directly from salt water.
Freshening really reduces the life
period of an oyster one-haf. In the
opinion of many consumers, the I'M
provement in appearance and flavor OF
an oyster due TO the dilution of the
salts more than compensates for the
loss in nutritive value. Prof. Lang
worthy remarks: "Often flavor has a
value which cannot be estimated in
dollars and cents"
Oysters come nearer to milk than al.
most any other common food material
as regards both the amounts and the
relative proportions of nutrients. Gen
orally speaking, a quart Of oysters con
tains on an average about the same
quantity Of actual nutritive substances
as a quart of milk, or three-fourths Of
pound of beef, two pounds Of fresh cod
/, fish, or one pound of bread. The nutri
tive substance Of an oyster contains
considerable protein, the substanc'
whose principal function is TO make Of
4 repair blood, muscle, tendon, bone
brain and other nitrogenous matter
Apparently as the oyster grows older
at least up to certain time, not onl.
do the proportions of flesh and liquid
increase more rapidly than the shells
but the proportion of nutrients in tn
edible part increases also. For illustra
p ton, 100 pounds of young oysters in tn
a shell appear to contain less of flesh ant
q of liquids than 100 pounds of older ones
d and when both have been shucked,
?, pound of meat from the shells of th
older oyster would contain more nutri
ment than a pound from the younger.
Investigation has shown that, cor
y sidering the edible portion OF the oyste
e after it has been removed from tn
d shell, the differences in different spec
~ mems are much greater than is con
y monty supposed. This is clearly al
parent when comparison is made Q
either the flesh or liquor of differen
specimens, or the whole edible porto
Z of the meats and liquor together. TIL
=l percentage Of water in the edible POI
S tion Of different specimens Of oyster
Z which were analysed for the Unite
:. States fish commission varied froi
= about So to 81 per cent, and average
81 per cent. In other words, the nutr
& tive material in a quart Of solid
q oysters varied from 294 to 1-3 ounce
8 The man who buys oysters in the she
Z pays for an enormous percentage {
{ waste material. The average of
specimens of oysters in the shell, fC
4 instance, showed only ? $40 per cen
y of actual nutrients. CLANS and mu
y sells yield a somewhat higher percen
'A age-N. Y. Times.
l. waste of Animal Life in Africa.
a. Although in some particulars OK
y, show undoubted intelligence, in MAI
y ways they are great fools. Thus tn
!, seem to have no knowledge Of what
% or is not good for them to eat. In Nat
ig there grows an herb called "tuliE