from their native beds they are stored in pits d for the purpose, furnished with sluices; through , at spring tides, the water is suffered to flow. water, being stagnant, soon becomes green in weather, and in a few days afterwards the s acquire the same tinge, which renders them ater value in the market: but they do not atheir full quality, and become fit for sale, till ad of six or eight weeks. The principal breedme of oysters is in the months of April and when they cast their spawn, or spats, as the men call them, upon rocks, stones, shells, or ther hard substance that happens to be near the where they lie, to which the spats immediately re. These, till they obtain their film or crust, omewhat like the drop of a candle, but are of a ish hue. The substances to which they adhere, hatever nature, are called cultch. From the ning-time until about the end of July the oysters said to be sick, but by the end of August they me perfectly recovered. During these months are out of season, and are bad eating.

he oyster fishery of our principal coasts is regu1 by a court of admiralty. In the month of May fishermen are allowed to take the oysters, in er to separate the spawn from the cultch, the latof which is thrown in again, for the purpose of serving the bed for the future. After this month, felony to carry away the cultch, and otherwise ishable to take any oyster, between whose shells, en closed, a shilling will rattle. The reason of heavy penalty on destroying the cultch is, that en this is taken away, the ouse will increase, and scles and cockles will breed on the bed and deby the oysters, by gradually occupying all the ces on which the spawn should be cast. There is ewise some penalty for not treading on, and killing, throwing on shore, any star-fish that happen to be

en.

The prickly star creeps on with full deceit,
To force the oyster from his close retreat.
When gaping lids their widened void display,
The watchful star thrusts in a pointed ray,
Of all its treasures spoils the rifled case,

And empty shells the sandy hillocks grace.

The common oyster (o. edulis) is contented to r main fixed to his first station, surrounded by an i numerable progeny, continually increasing with wo derful fecundity. His motions consist only in tur ing from one side to the other, which he accomplish more by sagacity than any natural agility or inhere strength. He contrives to bolster up one side by gradual deposition of soft mud, till he stands near upright; then, availing himself of the flowing or eb ing of the tide, he opens his shell, and is tumbled by the pressure of the water. And as expedition not his object, this mode may answer well. It ha however, been observed that the young fry posse the power of swimming very swiftly by means of undulatory motion of the bronchia. The poet nature thus characterises the oyster :

COWPER

Strong locomotive powers have been attributed the scallop, which are, it is said, exerted in a mo singular manner. A very rapid progress is effect by the sudden opening and closing of the shell. Th is done with so much muscular force as to throw

-five inches at a time. In the water, an equal
ity is evinced by the animal, in raising himself
surface, directing his course ad libitum, and,
ly by the shutting of his valves, dropping to
ttom. The scallop was held in high estimation
antients, and is still sought after in Catholic
ies. The pecten maximus is frequently used
land. It is found gregarious in moderately
vater, and is taken up by the dredge. It is
d. and barrelled for sale, and esteemed a great
cy. The fishermen suppose that they are taken
greatest quantity after a fall of snow. Another
s, the pecten opercularis, is employed for culi-
purposes in Cornwall, where it is known by the
of frills or queens. In the Firth of Forth
pecies is frequently dredged up along with
s, but it is thrown, by the Newhaven fishermen,
dunghill, along with sea urchins and star-fish.
callop was commonly worn by pilgrims on their
r the cape of their coat, as a mark that they had
ed the sea in their way to the holy land: in
emoration of which this shell is still preserved in
morial bearings of many families of distinc-

15. Anomia.

is genus is confined to the ocean, the species often found affixed by a ligament that passes gh the perforation to various kinds of fuci, and substances. There are twelve species, natives' e ocean which encircles Great Britain. The a. pium is used as food in Languedoc, and is there dered preferable to the oyster.

Mytilus, muscle; inhabitant allied to an ascidia. me of the muscles penetrate into the interior of areous rocks, where they reside out of the reach nger. Others adhere by their beard to the exr of rocks or stones; and so tenacious is their

d

hold, that, in the larger species, they cannot be se rated without considerable exertion. One species gathered from the depths of the sea, on account the pearls which are found within the shells. these, the antient Romans were extravagantly fo 'It is not enough' (says Pliny) 'to despoil the sea its riches, in order to gorge our appetites; we m likewise, both men and women, carry them about our hands, in our ears, upon our heads, and on whole body.' Persons of every rank purchased th with eagerness; they were worn on every par dress; and there is such a difference, both in size in value, among pearls, that while such as were la and of superior lustre adorned the wealthy and great, smaller ones and of inferior quality grati the vanity of persons in more humble stations of Julius Cæsar presented Servilia the mother of Br with a pearl for which he paid £48,457. The fan pearl ear-rings of Cleopatra were in value £161,

The common or edible muscle (mytilus edulis found both in the European and Indian seas, adhe to rocks, by the silky threads which it forms from body, but it grows to a much larger size between Tropics than in the northern climates. It abo on the British shores, being one of the commone our shells. All the muscles have, for an instru of motion, a tongue or foot, capable of consider elongation, and also of being shortened into the of a heart. This is marked with a longitudinal row, and completely enveloped in a sheath form transverse and circular fibres, of an obscure p colour. When the animal feels inclined to ch its place, it thrusts the foot out of the shell, raises itself on its edge; then, by reaching this great a distance as it will extend, it uses it as a ki arm, drawing the body up to it, and thus it pro until it has found a convenient situation. I muscle be inclined to make this its residence

aployment, in spinning those silky threads; fix it firmly to the spot; and, like a ship at enable it to brave all the agitations of the This it accomplishes by seizing with its he gluten supplied by a gland situated under e, and drawing it out through the furrow, into When the muscle is thus fixed, it lives he little earthy particles, or upon the bodies h smaller animals as the water transports to lls.

3.

common muscle is generally esteemed a rich holesome food; but to some constitutions it Occasions disorders, the symptoms of which are swellings, eruptions of blotches or pimples, ess of breath, convulsive motions, and someeven delirium. A remedy that has been recomed is two spoons-full of oil, and one of lemon(or, in want of this, about two of vinegar), en well together, and swallowed as soon as any e symptoms take place. This unwholesome ty has been attributed to a small species of crab, cancer pisum of Linnæus, that sometimes is within the shells. It seems, however, not to its seat in any thing essential to the muscle; when accidents of this kind have happened, e persons have been affected, and others have not, have eaten at the same time, and at least in al quantity'.

he mytilus margaritiferus is the pearl-bearing l of the Indian seas: it is most abundant and in test perfection on the coasts of the Persian Gulf, of the Island of Ceylon. In the great fisheries ablished to supply the eastern market, the number ish annually taken up from their beds by divers, ose perilous trade it is to search for them, is alst incredible. Some of the shells contain one or re pearls; others not any. They are usually de

'Bingley's Animal Biography, vol. iii, p. 455.