The Washington times., 1907-10-27
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kET HAD hoped to have oysters from
Britain" says the courtly host
of the Pompeiian patricians col

kET HAD hoped to have oysters from
Britain" says the courtly host
of the Pompeiian patricians col
lected about the dinner table in
the house Of Glaucus for the banquet
described by Bulwer in ''The Last Days
OF POmpet"
If the even tnen popular bivalve were
of the same strain with the natives
served TO the visitor TO London at the
present day. we do not appreciate the
regret of the feasters in the most luXu-
rious town known TO the civilized world
IN the year OF our Lord I9-
or, as was suggested by an irreverent
youth, when he called for oysters in
fair Italy ! 900 years after the last ban
Quet-ReId in the devoted house OF
GIaucus:
The British oyster may not come up
to the standard of excellence set for US
by the American, but it was far supe-
riOr to these specimens of the Ostrea
Eduis"
He impaIed one on the tines Of his
fork and held ii up, in bringing out the
contemptuous syllables.
There We're five OF us in the party
of ''forestieri." We had just returned
from an excursion TO Lake Avernus and
Styx. The day was cool for the season,
but blandIy bracing.
The drive from Naples and the ram
bIes along the shore mad reminded US of
creature wants. The order for luncheon
recalled, too, the parting injunction of
a Roman friend under whose kindly di-
rection we had seen the best things
early autumn had to offer in the Eternal
City;
"DOn't fail to call for Falernian and
for oysters in the restaurant on Lake
Avernus. And, in drinking and eating,
recoIIect that the Caesars enjoyed the
same in their day"
It was a contemptibly small bIvalve
which the college boy held up in the
sunshine striking across the table. Nor
was the color inviting to palates edu-
Gated to the plump wilderness Of what
Gus erudite youth presently informed
US is properly named 'Ostrea Virgin
lana
Because first eaten by English
settlers IN Virginia" opined a listener.
Probably on York river. The York
river oyster keeps up his reputation.
There is no better In the world"
A Contrast.
''Pos-si-blyg unused the lad, squint-
ing one eye to get the effect Of the light
through the impaled oyster. More
probably because the American native
is virgin white-a very pearl Of the
species.
Look at this-caricature! 1t is a
jaundieed dwarf by comparison. It is
tinged with coppery streaks.
1T is atrabnious in complexion, and it
leaves a cOppery tang on the tongue.
Ugh" He let it drop to his plate "If
the Caesars relished his ancestors it
was because America had not been dis
covered.
Yet an epieure- American by birth.
although long resident in Italy, had told
me a few days before that "when one
has learned to appreciate the Italian
and English oysters the American va
riety is coarse and insipid by compari-
SON" The tang" condemned by our I'M
sophisticated eoIlegian sis exquisite
when the palate IS educated to it"
The lad never changed his opinion.
nor did any OF Us learn to Ike the !
''atrabilious" diminutives
Despite the assertion OF scientific
gourments and the owners of oyster /
beds, that the old superstition relative I
TO the danger Of eating oysters in @ |
month that has not an r to its name 4
Is an obsolete fable, and that the fresh. 1
Well-bon oyster is edible and whole 4
some the year round. the fact that the +
spawning season in temperate countries /
begins in May, ana lasts fully two 4
months. acts as a check upon the ap-
petite Of the oyster lover.
CLASSIC PRECEDENT.
The fable has classic precedent. In q
curious old treatise printed in England
II 1889 under the caption of ''Dyets Dry
Dinner" We are told that cit is unsea-
sonable and unwholesome in an months
that have not an R in their name to
eat an OYSTER