Oysters, like all other creatures that have been destined to become
food for man, are found in great abundance in most parts of the globe;
they are inhabitants of salt waters only, and are always found in rocky
ground, in no great depth from the surface.
Oysters generally cast their spat, or spawn, in the month of May;
when first shed it has the appearance of a drop of candle-grease,
which the dredgers commonly call _cultch_. The growth of an Oyster is
tolerably rapid; three days after the spawn is deposited, the shell of
the young Oyster may be seen, nearly a quarter of an inch in width; in
three months it is larger than a shilling, in six months bigger than a
half-crown, and in a year it exceeds a crown piece in size.
[Illustration: _Ostrea edulis._]
Oysters have been employed as food almost from time immemorial. The
Greeks, but more especially the Romans, held them in high repute,
attaching, at the same time, great importance to the places in which
they were found. Those from the Dardanelles, from Venice, and from
England, were considered the best, and the prices paid for them by the
luxurious inhabitants of Rome were enormous. They were transported
in large vessels, and deposited in the Lucrine Lake, where they were
fattened for the table. The Romans, it seems, gave a preference to
those which had the border of their mantle of a dark-brown colour,
nearly black.
The English Oyster-fishery is principally carried on at the following
places:—Wivenhoe, near Colchester, in Essex, (the beds here are
generally supplied from Portsmouth;) at Feversham and Milton, in
Kent, the Swales of the Medway, and at Tenby, on the coast of Wales.
In Scotland, they are chiefly taken at the island of Inchkeith, and
at Preston-pans, both in the Firth of Forth. The fishing for Oysters
is permitted by law, from the 1st of September to the last of April
inclusive. During the remaining months they are considered unwholesome;
it is a common saying that Oysters are in season during all the months
that have the letter _r_ in them.
In France, the chief fishing-station for Oysters is in the Bay of
Cançal, between the town of that name and Mount St. Michael, or St.
Malo. The fishery is effected by means of an iron net or dredge; this
is drawn over the Oyster-bed by hand-labour, or by having the rope
which is fixed to it attached to the stem of the fishing-boat, which is
then allowed to run before the wind; frequently, in the course of a few
minutes, as many as two or three hundred are taken. The Oysters taken
are sent from the ports of Granville and Cançal, to different places,
where artificial banks or preserves are established. These banks
are not only of use in the preservation of the Oysters, but assist
materially in their improvement. In fact, the Oyster, when first taken
out of the sea, has frequently a strong muddy taste, and appears in
what we should call bad condition.
Some of these preserves are a species of tank dug in the sand, or
sometimes even in stone, near the sea-shore, and communicating by a
narrow tunnel with the sea-water; the bottom and sides of these tanks
are usually strewed with large stones. In France great care is bestowed
on the management of these preserves; the Oysters are placed by hand
on the stones, with the largest shell downwards, and at times the
water is let off, and they are freed from all mud and dirt that may
have collected, by having large quantities of water poured over them.
A fashion existed formerly in France of preferring those Oysters which
had a tinge of green, and great pains were taken to cause this change
of colour to take place, by placing the animals where they could obtain
a peculiar kind of green food.