The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1902-01-09
THE MAKING OF OYSTERS.
Latest Triumph OF Science Is the Ara
tificiaI Propagation of
the BiVaIVes.


Oyster making is the latest industry.
Experiments of a remarka BILE charac-
ter have been made recently in the ar
titicial propagation of oysters by Prof.
John A. Ryder, of Johns Hopkins uni
versity, and other scientists. Some of
the results obtained are most timely
just now, as another oyster season is
upon us, says New York exchange.
Under natural conditions the eggs
and milt of spawning oysters are sim
ply set free in the water of river or
bay, and are allowed to take their
chances of coming together. The
chance is so small that probably not
more than one egg in million is fer
tilted, and thus 10000 possible oys-
tiers are lost for every one that is
Matched. When the new method out
linedby these scientists is adopted, on
the other hand, 80 per cent. of the eggs,
it is estimated, are impregnated and
Matched. 1t only remains then to lib.
crate the baby bivalves thus brought
into the world by incubator process
under circumstances that viii conduce
to their survival.
Now, the possibilities in the case
may be family realized when it is ex
planned that a single female oyster il
one seasons spawning will lay, if she
be of average size, about 100000
eggs, while a large specimen will pro.
duce 30,000,O00 or 100000. The eggs
are microscopic in size, and an ordi.
nary tumbler of sea water will easily
hold 100000 of the infant mollusks,
waiting only for a suitable opportuni.
ty to grow to table size and to be
served raw on the half shell or fried il
crumbs or in stews.
The idea of assisting" the bivalve.
was first attempted in a crude way by
chopping up the reproductive organs
of male and female oysters together
in a vessel of sea water. BY such means
the eggs and milt were liberated anc
the former were fortified, but a great
many of the eggs were destroyed in,
cidentally, and much foreign materia'
was introduced into the mixture
The new way is to take an oyster
and open it so that the animal lies OIL
the deep shell. Then, with an ordinary
glass pipette, such as is used for ar
eye dropper, stroke its upper surface
gently, away from the hinges. This ii,
the mollusk is ready to SPAWN will
cause it to pour out fluid which. il
case the oyster is female, will be full
of microscopic eggs. A few drops o.
this fluid taken up by the pipette are
put into a tumbler of sea water. and e.
drop or two of liquid similarly OBJ
tanned from the male oyster being add.
ed) fertilization of the eggs is imme'
diately accomplished.
A couple of hours later nearly all Of
the eggs will have Matched and you viii,
have in the tumbler many thousands OF
young oysters. For a couple of day.
they are free swimming animals, pad,
ding about with the aid of tiny hair.
like appendages called "cila," and Their
they are ready to settle down for life
and attach thmselves permanently tc
some solid object.
1t is this free swimming stage OF
their career that is so peri,ous tc
oysters under natural conditions, in.
asmuch as countless numbers are de.
voured by fishes and even by adults
of their own species, while great ma.
jority of those that survive such dan.
gers eventually perish through being
unable to find any suitable spot where
they may settle down. 1t does not mat.
ter to young oyster whether he set
ties upon a rock, an old boot or a bot
tie, but he must be out of the mud
which will suffocate him if it flows over
him.
The newly Matched oyster is already
Enclosed in a bivalve shell, composed
of a CLASSY substance and provided
with a hinge. After it settles down
and begins to grow its true limy shell,
this larval case remains attached to
the latter and is eventually worn off
In establishing itself on rock or other
object the animal always lies on its
left side-that is to say, on the deer
shell. 1t is not obliged to move around
after that, because its food, which con-
sists of very minute organisms, both
animal and vegetable, is brought to it
w CuIItAI VI water WHICH Is kept
continually flowing through the shell,
thanks to the action of the Migratory
"cilia" attached to the mantle.
The oyster, indeed, is a much more
complicated animal than most people
imagine. 1t has a heart, liver, an in
testine and even what may fairly be
called a brain, this last consisting of
two knots of nervous matter Just over
the gullet. What is ordinarily called
the heart is in reality great muscle,
by the help of which the animal keeps
its shell closed. The real heart NAV
be seen just above the muscle, beating
slowly, if an oyster be opened carefully
and the delicate membrane close by the
muscle aforesaid gently cut away. Not
the least important OF the organs OF
the creature is a capacious stomach,
the mouth being at the hinge end
The method employed by Prof. Ryder
is so simple that anybody can practice
it for himself, with the help of a small
amount of instruction from an expert.
The Importance of it as discovery lies
in the hope that it may be utilized in a
large way for propaoat ting oysters