Year: 1867

All shellfsh are hermaphodite, or have
both sexes combined in one shell. This is
true of all the shells from the largest conchs
TO the smallest pinpoint mollusk. In our
fresh waters. the most familiar to all, is the
common muscle CMytilis vulgaris) and oys-
fer from salt water, which is deemed SO nour-
ishing and delicious by all mankind us food.
All shellfsh are known to naturalists as mol
lusks; AID they all spawn, procreate. or
"spat' as it is called when applied to the
propagation of shelltish. In mid summer
the water of the oyster or muscle becomes
thickened and more milky than usual, and
this water" is thrown out and floats about
until it comes in contact with something to
which it can adhere, and in twenty -four
hours this little sp0re spat has formed u thin
transparent shell, and the young oyster is a
perfect animal; and in two or three years
under favorable circumstances, is large
enough for food. The snail (HeliX) with a
circular SHELL and the slug uimax) without
shells, propagate from the milk Or slime
thrown out on walls and stone in damp Sha-
DIV places, and thus it is in their day and
generation, that they are "spat' and snail 8
and slugs are produced The sheil-snails are
deemed nutritious and good for food through
out Europe, but have not been used in Amer
lea to any great extent as yet, but doubtless
will ere long be considered by our American
ladies, as one of the most dainty nlorsels
that can be prepared for their tables. In all
the large cities of Europe, Vienna, Berlin,
Paris, and even London, the shellsnail is
now a regular article of sale in the fish mar
kets several hundred thousand daily being
sold in the city of Paris alone.


We append the following account from an
Exchange, OF an Englishmans experience
on breeding shcllish i'll an Aquarium kept hy
him in England, which is interesting on this
subject, upon the propagation OF the COM
mon oyster, &c.:


About fortnight ago, on the keeper 60
Ing to the aquarium about Il. H., to areate
the water, when he touched it with his hand
one of the oysters in the act of closing
(Which they always do Immediately if the
outside of the aquarium is touched.) sent
out a cloud of white, which rose steadily
but quickly to the surface, and Immediate
ly began to sink again as rapidly as it had
risen and disappeared amongst the stones
in the bottom of the aquarium. The process
was three times repeated. Since this oyster
has spawned it has grown thin transparent
addition to the shell, nearly half an inch
wide, which none of the other had done
yet" In commencing upon this interesting
note from Sir VIM. Wallace, Frank Buck
land, the learned naturalist remarks


THE young oysters do not often come to
the surface to swim about, though under
certain conditions of the water they are all
to the top and none at the bottom. When
in the parent shell they float about in
thickish apparently mucilaginous) fluid
I agree with Sir William that the oyster
does not send all her young (and there are
generally about 1000 of thcm) forth into
the world at the same moment Those which
lie between the laminp OF the beard are the
last to he born those nearest the opening
OF the shell make their debut before their
brothers. During the summer months the
oysters are all hard at work enlarging their
houses for the winter. This they do by ad-
ding an extra story to the edges of both
shells. When first Secreted the growth is as
fine as the ice spiculse one sees on the win
dow on frosty mornings. The scatfold once
made, the she'll material is added pretty
thcky. If the fact observed by Sir Wal
lace, that only the oyster that spawned grew
its shell while others remained idle be uni
versal in its application, it is not only inter
esting, but important in practice"


Oyster eaters, it will be seen, need be un-
tier no apprehension as to the exhaustion of
this luxury, if the spat of each female av-
erage 100000. They require, however, five
or six years to attain maturity, and have
many enemies, of which the crab is one
Eoracity is a game, however, at which two
can play, and if crabs "gobbie" young oy-
sters, the latter retaliate by shutting down"
on the young crabs So that here, as else
where, nature keeps up an equilibrium be-
tween opposing forces.


We add to the above an article "some-
thing about oysters" taken from the Pitts
burg Commercial, to give few statistics
showing the important commercial value of
the trade in the oyster alonej which we be-
lieve fall short of its actual Importance.


Where oysters go to, after being dredged
from their native element and split out of
their natural house and home, is well under
stood, but where they come from, how they
are obtained and in what members they are
taken, it may he interesting to our readers
to learn. From early historic times they
have been reckoned a suitable and palatable
article of diet. The Romans used them, as
found in their natural state ON their coast; and
also propagated them by artificial planting
IN beds or in pits, as is done at the present
day. In Lao period or country have such