Evening star., 1903-07-01
DANGER IN OYSTERS
MEN WHO EAT THE BIvALvES
SUBJECT TO INSANITY.
Account of an Inquiry Made at the In
stance of the German
Government.
From the New York Tribune.

Oyster eaters. beware! According to an
exhaustive investigation made at the in
stance of the German government by Prof.
Anton Siegafritz of Gorlitz. those addicted
to the inordinate use of the succulent hi
valve are subject to violent fits of nsan-
ity. This scientific expert declares that
many cases of suicide can be traced to tho
habit of eating oysters. He holds oysters
responsible for violent fits of temper and
habitual bad language in those to whom
they form a staple food. and cites the cur
rent dictum to the uses OF a fish diet.
which became a reiterated vexation TO its
reputed author during his lifetime. The
professor. in his report submitted to the
German National Bureau of Public Eco
nomics. writes in part follows:
Louis Asassi. an American of German
descent, first promulgated the fact that
fish diet contributed more phosphorus to
the system than any other. and hence
to be recommended to brain workers. who
consume their phosphorus more rapidly
than any other classes. larger proper
ton of phosphorus Is eliminated by the
system from oysters than from any other
Inhabitants of the sea. But i have discov-
cred that indulgence In oysters is by no
means safe. Their least injurious effect is
on brain workers who. by reason of their
greater combustion OF phosphorus. seem
capable Of assimiating many oysters with
out evil consequences.
Emontional insanity.
But In the case of all those who do more
bodily than mental labor. and I'm proportion
as their physical exceeds the mental exer-
else. have observed a distinct and positive
tendency in the oyster. when eaten. to pro-
duce emotional insanity. or. at least. a tran
STORY. unheraided species OF frenzy.
while investigating the cultivation OF
the oyster and fits effects in the physical
and mental system In all parts OF the world
it was among the fishermen OF Ostend that
/ first suspected a peculiar action OF the
cerebellum might be induced by the intem-
perate of this article of diet 1t oc-
CURED to me that fishwives the world over.
especially those who eat many oysters,
have peculiar Feasibility of temper, a
strange disposition to quarrel. and a singu-
lar readiness and fuency in the use of foul
language. But to be just to the fshmon-
gers it is not they alone who bristle with
abuse and bad temper. l have noticed Ii
among all sorts of outdoor workers who
eat oysters. The phosphorus, perhaps need
ed by brain workers and extracted from
the bivalves, in the case of toilers who live
by the exercise of their Drawn and muscles,
seems to set their brains fire. l have
seen stokers. coal beavers and stevedores
in England. after eating a dozen or two Of
oysters suddenly transformed from men
into wild beasts have seen peaceful Nor
mandy peasants. after but score of oys-
ters. shake off their native lethargy and
The American Oyster.
"The American oyster, not having been
trained by centuries of civilization. like the
European variety. is still more violent in it's
effect In New York pursuing my studies
upon the wharves and markets, I had fire.
quent occasions to note that violent acces-
sion of frenzy followed large consumption
of the bivalves. The increasing frequency
of suicides in the United States is an eStab-
lshed fact. During my Investigations there
| able to trace the act of felo de Sc, in
many instances. to emotional insanity in
duced by excessive oyster eating. l have
given much thought and research to this
| subject, and l strongly disposed to at
tribute the great excess of madness which
prevailed in the first centuries of the
Roman empire, and manifested itself in
the widest extravagances of luxury and
the elevation of suicide to heroic act, to
the great passion for oysters which then
seized upon that people.
while in Philadelphia I was furnished
with a theory by famous medical pro-
feSSor to the effect that the absolutely
fresh oyster not injurious. But he
also admitted that those usually on the
market are not direct from the sea. He
pointed out that the oyster is a gross feed
er omnvorous and voracious Deprived Of
water. it begins to assmilate air But this
induces a new activity in the phosphorus
1t secretes. A process of slow combustion
begins in 1t. and this increases with each
day the oyster is kept 1t is to this con-
dition of phosphorus. cOmbusted in the stale
oyster. that the origin OF emotional in
sanity. which so often follows its consump-
ton. is probably due"