Evening journal., 1899-03-11
TRAITS OF THE OYSTER.
Food, Fnttens In Fresh Water and
Is 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
common prejudice against green
oyster. Some persons attribute the col
oring to disease and'others oparasites
or to the presence of copper. Scien-
tihc 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 brackish or salt water.
c. f. Langworthy, of the office Of expe-
riment stations of the United States de-
partment of agriculture, in a bulletin
on Fish as Food" says that, in the
opinion Of those who have investigated
the matter carefully, the green colorin
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, 10
place them for a period Of about As
| hours in fresh water, in order to fatten
them. The oystermen call this opera
ton floating" or laying out" The
process gives the oyster plumpness and
rotundity, its bulk and weight being so
/ =. 4 A. -fr1I fNo
selling value. The belief is common
among oystermen that this "fattening"
is due to actual gain of flesh and fat,
and that the nutritive value of the
oyster is increased by the process.
Oysters lose much of their salty flavor
in floating" however, and it is an es-
tablished fact that IL 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 10 the
fact that they lose mineral weight and
gain a 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-ffth more nutritive material
than when fattened.
II 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-half. In the
, opinion of many consumers, the Inn
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 favor 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 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 substance
whose principal function is TO make Of
y repair blood, muscle, tendon, bone
Z brain and other nitrogenous matter
= Apparently as the oyster grows older
( at least up to a certain time, not onl.
do the proportions Of flesh and liquid
= increase more rapidly than the shells
but the proportion of nutrients in tn
e edible part increases also. For illustra
y tion, 100 pounds of young oysters in tn
shell appear to contain less of flesh ant
= of liquids than 100 pounds Of older ones
9 and when both have been shucled,
= pound of meat from the shells of th
older oyster would contain more nutri
" ment than pound from the younger.
Investigation has shown that, col
y sidering the edible portion Of the oyste
n after il has been removed from tn
) shell, the differences in different spec
Is mems are much greater than is CON
IS monty supposed. This is clearly al
parent when a comparison is made o
l. either the flesh or liquor of differen
e specimens, or the whole edible porto
IT of the meats and liquor together Tn
percentage of water in the edible poi
;. tion of different specimens of oyster
n which were analyzed for the Unite
States fish commission varied froI
q about SO to 81 per cent, and average
y ST per cent. In other words, the nutr
e tive material in a quart of solid
, oysters varied from ga to 1-3 ounce
- The man who buys oysters in the she
! pays for an enormous percentage
waste material. The average Of
rs specimens Of oysters in the shell, fo
-e instance, showed only $40 per cen
of actual nutrients. CLANS and mus
Il sells yield a somewhat higher percen
% age.-N. Y. Times.
- Waste of Animal Life In Africa.
" Although in some particulars oxe
% show undoubted intelligence, in man
40 ways they are great fools. Thus the
,n seem to have no knowledge Of what
or is not good for them to eat. In Nat
there grows an herb called tulip
N