Evening star., 1920-11-28

them into fragments between teeth
arranged like a cobblestone pave
ment, and 30 the oyster growers
crop may melt away. almost in 9
hosts and by the muscular force Of
their arms furnished with rows Of
suckers, rend open the shells and.
turning their own stomachs inside
out, absorb the oyster while It still
lies within the armor designed to pro-
snail. uses it's rough tongue like q
rasp and. boring a. smooth. round
hole through the helpless oysters
shell. inserts it's snout and licks up
the delicious meat within.
rolling in from the sea take theiir
toll-the one by rendering the water
too fresh or too muddy. and the
other by the force of the waves
tearing up both oysters and the
bottom. Even with their own spe-
cies these mollusks have to con-
in the warfare. They struggle with
their kind as man struggles with
man. for room to grow and enough
to eat: and, though the struggle Is
passive, it is relentless. and the loser.
unable to run away, is starved or
stifed through lack Of room in which
to open its shell for food and oxygen.
The oyster feeds on small particles
suspended in the water. conspicuous
among which, by reason of their
beauty under the microscope. are
minute plants, called diatoms, covered
with ornately sculptured Transparent
shells of quartz. These and the other
food particles are carried by the cur.
rents, dropping to the bottom in
gentle drizSle and eventually accumu-
lating in considerable deposits. Each
oyster has part Of Its surfaces covered
by innumerable microscopic. vibrat-
ing, fieshy bristles, each feeble In it.
self, but beating In unison, producing
currents strong enough to carry the
food particles into the gaping shell
where the water passes through the
gills, which are beautifully con-
again to the outside, while the food
strained from it passes in con-
slant stream into the mouth. So in-
dustrious fs the oyster and SO scat
tered is its food that to get it's daily
meal 1t filters between twenty-five
and thirty-five quarts Of water. maxi
ing useful to man o wealth OF mi
croscopic material which otherwise
woi1ld be lost. The waste Of the soils
washed by rains and carried into the
sea. comes back, indirectly. through
the marine plants that are nourished
by the fertilizing salts and fed on by
the oyster.
If food be abundant and the beds not
too crowded, the oyster becomes fat
luscious and tender. In this condition
It IL one Of the most inviting of foods
II resembles milk and needs but the
ordinary ingredients used in cooking
-starches and fats-to give 1t bal
ance." It Is remarkable among ordi-
nary food substances in its high pro-
norton of glycogen, substance re-
sembling starch; but more readily and
easily assimilated, and. unlike starch
wholly digestible even when un-
cooked.
against the possibility Of eating cake
and still having it 10 equally true OF
oysters. Oystermen and government
ofyicials are now realizing that unless
nroper measures are adopted to safe
guard the oyster that 1t will event
ually become as scarce az dodos, bison
and juleps.
, In speaking of present oysterine
conditions throughout the country. DR.
Hugh Mccormick Smith. commits
l sioner of the bureau Of fisheries OF the
/ UnlteO oIatC OSpoi itMShs Va SohA
merce. says:
ssUntil the last forty years the ma.
iority OF the oysters taken from Caps
Cod to Mexico came from natural oys-
ter beds which covered an area Of such
great extent that they were regarded
| as fnexhaustible. That this belief ID
quite erroneous Is shown by the fact that
on the northern parts Of the coast
where the temperature 10 about the
minimum for the support Of oysters. the
| natural beds have disappeared or have
becomc sadly depleted. Those Of Massa.
| chusetts are greatly exhausted, and
\ few are found in Narragansett bay
On the Connecticut coast only two
beds OF Importance remain-one ir
the mouth Of the New Haven harbo'
and one west Of Stratford lighthouse
near Bridgeport. There are very few
| in New York waters. Many Of the
beds OF Chesapeake bay are seriously
or quite depleted. although many still
remain. From that point southwark
| the depletion has not been nearly &c
| great, as the oyster fishery has no,
been pursued as vigorously and thu
environment has been such that thl
oyster reproduced much more abun.
dantly than In the north, where q
failure to obtain set 10 only too com.
mon.
"In some cases the depletion or de.
strucuon az natural beds is the result