Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub

cavity, and mostly with lateral transverse grooves. It grows sometimes to a very large size; in the East Indies they sometimes measure near two feet in diameter. Fixed to a rock from the moment it has been spawned, the Oyster is deprived of locomotion; and by this circumstance, as well as by the stony nature of its heavy shell, unites the confines of the animal kingdom to those of the mineral.

The principal breeding season of Oysters is in the months of April and May, when they cast their spawn, or spats, as the fishermen call them, upon rocks, stones, shells, or any other hard substance that happens to be near the place where they lie; and to these the spats immediately adhere. Till they obtain their film or crust, they are somewhat like the drop of a candle, but are of a greenish hue. The substances to which they adhere, of whatever nature, are called cultch. From the spawning time till about the end of July, the Oysters are said to be sick; but by the end of August they become perfectly recovered. During these months they are out of season, and are bad eating. The Oyster fishery of our principal coasts is regulated by a court of admiralty. In the month of May the fishermen are allowed to take the Oysters, in order to separate the spawn from the cultch, the latter of which is thrown in again, for the purpose of preserving the bed for the future. After this month it is felony to carry away the cultch, and otherwise punishable to take any Oyster, between whose shells, when closed, a shilling will rattle. The reason of the heavy penalty on destroying the cultch is, that when this is taken away, the ouse will increase, and muscles and cockles will breed on the bed; and, by gradually occupying all the places on which the spawn should be cast, will destroy the Oysters.

The Oyster has been represented, by many authors,

as an animal destitute not only of motion, but of every species of sensation. It is able, however, to perform movements which are perfectly consonant to its wants, to the dangers it apprehends, and to the enemies by which it is attacked. Oysters breathe by means of gills. They draw the water in at their mouth, a small opening in the upper part of their body, drive it down along a canal that constitutes the base of the gills, and so out again, retaining the air that is requisite for the functions of the body.

THE COMMON COCKLE.

Few of our shell-fish are more common, in inlets and bays near the mouths of rivers, than these. In such situations they are usually found immersed at the depth of two or three inches in the sand, the place of each being marked by a small, circular, depressed spot. When they open their shells, the entrance into them is protected by a soft membrane, which entirely closes up the front, except in two places, at each of which there is a small, yellow, and fringed tube. It is by means of these tubes the animals receive and eject the water which conveys to their body the nutriment necessary for their support.

Cockles are in great request as food, and are caught for this purpose chiefly in the winter months. Their size is various, from five or six inches to half an inch in diameter. The shell is somewhat heart-shaped, with twenty-six longitudinal ribs, and transverse wrinkled, somewhat imbricated striæ; the colour pale, or whitish.

[graphic][merged small]

LIKE the oyster, the Muscle inhabits a bivalve shell, to which he adheres, as others of that species, by a strong cartilaginous tie. The shells of several muscles are beautiful. The muscle possesses the property of locomotion, which he performs with that member called the tongue of the muscle; by this tongue he gets hold of the rock, and by moving it along, is enabled to change his situation; he has also the property of emitting some kind of threads, which fixing at the sides of the shell upon the ground, answer the purpose of cables to keep the body of the fish steady.

The Chama, which is akin to the muscle, was used by the ancients to engrave various figures upon, from which circumstance those small bas-reliefs, so valued now, have obtained among the Italians and collectors the name of Cameos. The shells of some of these are decorated with red or yellow stripes, diverging from the hinge, and spreading to the edges. The Giant Chama has been found to weigh more than five hundred pounds, and the fish within large enough to furnish a meal for one hundred and twenty men.

THE ADMIRAL, the shell of a species of the Volutæ, is called so for its uncommon beauty. The inhabitant of it is a slug, or snail, as most of those of the univalve kind. If Nature have taken a delight in painting the wings of birds, the skins of quadrupeds, and the scales of fishes, she seems not to have been less pleased in pencilling the shells of these inhabitants of the deep. The variety, brightness, and versatility of the colouring, has been for a long space of time the deserving object of man's admiration; and in several places we cannot help being astonished at the richness which a cabinet of well selected shells presents to the eye.

The manner of preparing the shells, and of bringing out their beautiful colours, is simple, and yet requires great attention. The crust must be rubbed gently with spirit of salt, and soon washed with clear water; this process will cleanse the shell, and display the wonderful brilliancy which was hidden under the first coat.

[graphic][merged small]

THE Snipe, a shell-fish, so called on account of the curious length of a certain prominency coming out of the shell. It is surrounded with blunt prickles, and the colour of the whole is elegantly variegated.

THE WILK belongs to the family of the Turbines. It is the shell which the soldier crab generally adopts for his temporary abode, not having been furnished by Nature with those calcareous juices which produce a shell.

[graphic][merged small]

Is a univalve shell-fish, the shape of which is pyramidal; it adheres to the rock with such strength, that no human force can make it leave its hold, unless it is crushed by a strong blow. The apex of the shell is sometimes sharp, sometimes obtuse, and often surrounded with points and sharp prickles. When cleaned by proper means, the shell is found sometimes of a beautiful purple tint, sometimes emits rays of reflected light of an uncommon brilliancy. They are found on the rocks, which are incessantly beaten by the surges and breakers, on the sea-shores of almost every country in the world. The rays of variegated colours, which issue from their tops, are sometimes found of the most vivid hues; and the animal that lives under this magnificent roof, or versicolored canopy, is a kind of slug, uncomely to the eye, and insipid to the palate. It is not by any glutinous liquid, as it has been asserted, that this fish adheres so strongly to the rock; but by

« НазадПродовжити »