The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-10-30

/, ined in this same labratory. Also In
their case the appearance OF the colon
bacillus determines whether oysters
| taken from such waters are polluted.
J Adulterating Oysters.
Something was said above about oys-
ters being drunk" 1t is general
practice of the growers to drink" their
/! oysters by taking them from salt into
! brackish water, which bloats them
to the degree of brackishness, enecting
TO their superficial appearance. In
various localities this process OF drink
, ing"-i. O., letting the oysters drink
lis also called floating" "plumping"
or "fattening." The oysters Just after
having been tonged or dredged are
placed upon FLOATS" or shallow RATS
and thus carried to the mouths Of
streams where the thrush Of fresh
water dilutes the natural salt water
to the degree OF brackishness erecting
the greatest amount of bloating.
oystermen practicing this method
will tell you that they resort to II
merely to clean their bivalves. DR..
Wiley demands that this Cleaning be
done upon floats placed in water OF
saline content equal to that In which
oysters will grow to maturity.
The label "foated oysters" must
hereafter appear on all packages OF
such mollusks placed in interstate COM
Snerce after having been thus put In
brackish water. He holds that the peo-.
pie are entitled to have their bivalves
just as nature fashioned and favored
them, and that 1t is as great an Of
tense to put fresh water into oysters
as 1t is to add 1t to milk.
"A careful chemical test easily re-
sveals the extent to which an oyster
has been thus foated. by showing it's
proportion of water. solids. salt, etc.
External appearance also gives the
clue, for oysters taken directly from
salty water are natter than those given
1.-The fresh water cure. Some day, per-
|haps. the gullible public will be sedu-
,5cated to the fact that this fiat oyster
has just as much tissue and as much
|nourishment as his bloated brother
formerly of equal size. Sc
Polluted When Bloated.
But worse ofrense than adultera-
ton lies at the door OF the oyster
sHoater. The streams at whose mouths
This floats are placed are commonly the ne
outlets of pollution from cities and
villages built upon their banks. Dr.
Wiley has had DR.. Stiles in the field
making sanitary survey Of the prin-
cipal oyster beds and shocking esta b.
lishn1ents along the Atlantic and Gulf
coasts. and that bacteriologist has
come back with an interesting collec-
Istion of photographs showing sewer
outlets directly over oyster beds, the
dumping of garbage into streams flow
ing past floats and filthy "shucking
houses" without plumbing leaning over
waters In which oysters are being
& hoated. L. H ~
as The oyster Is not a scavenger, &C
fcording to Dr. Stiles. although the pops
liar not on is to the contrary. It must
drink the water that comes to 1t, and
when hat water is polluted 1t Is pow
'erless to move into "a medium that
tastes better. From 90 95 per cent.
OF Its natural food consists of an order
Of 8algae known as diatoms. and which
are sometimes used as polishing pow
der. In addition to these the oyster
plants n and the microscopic forms
iIprefers small amounts Of pollen from
of animal and vegetable life found In
clean water,
Now the amount OF rise and fall in
the tides. the prevailing winds, the
amount of sunshine. the extent Of the
RAINFALL and the proportion OF salt IL.
the water, salsoSits depths and currents
are all being studied by DR.. Stiles in
connection with pollution. They all
combine to make the water Of the
oyster beds good or bad, and each
llocality has its own peculiar combi-
nation OF such forces
Farther floating After Sucking, Ii
THE gantlet that the poor oyster
must run lis indeed a long one First
polluted by advancing civilization. he
his next "Aoated" by his grower, Then
1.-THE boatman who buys him drinks"
|yhim8 some more by dumping him into
| shallow water Where he lies and bloata
(7furtherftllla the next tide starts onNthe
| ebb. After. that the shucker taxes
lihold of him. and ia ter ri ping off his
shell subjects him to a new indignity,
which the trade Ga II Is oakin 81" and q
second dose OF which he often gets In