The Record-courier. [volume] (Gardnerville, Nev.) 1904-current, 1904-10-28
STORY OF AN OYSTER


There were about 100000 Of US when.
IS tiny flakes of spawn-or ''spat." as
the oyster spawn is called-we fioated
out into the water one day on The
fats.
Al first we were white and apparent
~ llfeless. Then we turned gray and
finally black. At this stage we became
yisibly alive. For several days we
foated, the sport of waves and tides.
Some Of my brothers were carried out
10 sea and so vanished; others were
swallowed by fish. AT last we all be-
gan instinctiyely TO sink toward the
bottom.
Then began again terrible destruc
ton. Many fell on mud-the most IA |
tai thing young oyster can do. These
persisted at once. Others attached
themselves TO plants and weeds which
grow at the bottom of the sea. They
lived for time-so long at least as the
plant remained alive. Then, when the
plant died. they persisted as well
Fortunately for myself. | drifted on
10 a bit OF "cultch"-that is to say, one
Of tile old shells which the dredgers
and oyster men so carefully scatter all
over the sea floor OF an oyster bed.
settled with my deep shell uppermost
and my list or right shell nearer the
ground. At the time | did not know
Why | did this | have since realized
that It was because in that position
should be more easily able to eject the
sand and git which a rough sea some
times stirs up in shallow water. | at
tached myself firmly TO my anchorage
Of "cultch" and felt myself at last fair
~ started in life.
Soon | noticed that every single NOR
sci of shell or stone around me was
tenanted by tiny oysters, all lying in
the same position as myself and all
firmly anchored.
There | lay. unmoving, for nearly
year. Food. in the shape of tiny ami
malculg. which an oyster loves best,
was plentiful When the water was
thick with it, we all opened our shells
wide. and, making currents in the wa
ter 10y means of the tiny hairs which
fringe our gills and which men call our
boards. we washed the dainties into
our mouths. Our choicest delicacies
were the minute green alg9, which
| give 10 full grown oysters that greenish
tlnge that is the mark of the aristo-
| cratic native.
When | first anchored myself, l was
| but the twentieth of an inch in diane
ter-so small, indeed, that a microscope
would have been necessary TO examine
me. At that stage my shell was per
| fectly transparent.
| At the end of ten months l had in
| creased In diameter to fully the size
/ of dime and become what is called
brood"
During all this time | had been learn
ing many things. | found out that 1t
was necessary to close my shell tight
when dangers of various kinds I - reat-
ened, when the tide was low or. in win
ter, when frost was severe. You may
perhaps imagine that an oyster is
creature OF such low organism that 1t
cannot see or feel much of what is 60
| ing on round about It, But you are
wrong The mantle fringe of an oyster
is very sensitive. II you watched us
from boat in calm water, you would
see that the mere shadow OF the boat
crossing an oyster bed Will cause those
of us upon whom 1t falls to close our
shells Immediately.
1t was necessary to be most careful.
Dangers were many and terrible Sea
urchins prowled among us and de-
voured many. But of all our foes the
worst is the five fingered starfish. One
of my sisters, anchored not yard
away, fell victim to this terror OF
the oyster beds. 1t clutched her with
its long fingers. She closed her shell.
But the creature was not TO be shak-
en- off Hour after hour it chung there
until on the second day after It's first
grip she, poor thing, opened her shell
to get mouthful OF food. At once the
starfish injected into her fluid which
stupefied her so that she could not
close again. Then the monster turned
| itself inside out, shot itself into the
open shell and devoured her
Then, one day year after | had
floated as "spat," came startling
change in my existence. Something
! DuRt anu ItuNs Jul VI AhN HhhN
ow of boat above and approached,
rasping and grating along the bottom.
1t was great triangular dredge OF
wrought iron. At the bottom was
fiat bar with n blunt edge. known to
| the dredgers as the bit
As the bit approached it scraped
the bottom OF the sea clean and next
instant |, too, found myself lifted and
dropped into the net together with
hundreds like myself and miscel-
laneous collection of small soles and
other things.
One of the men sorted over the catch
and. having selected all the oysters
and spat. shaded the rest back into
the sea through portfolio.
/, in company with enormous guam