The principal breeding-time 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. 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 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. Instead of being destitute of sensation, Oysters are even capable of deriving some knowledge from experience. When removed from situations that are constantly covered with the sea, they open their shells, lose their water, and die in a few days. But, when taken from similar situations, and laid down in places from which the sea occasionally retires, they feel the effect of the sun's rays or of the cold air, or perhaps apprehend the attacks of enemies, and accordingly learn to keep their shells close till the tide returns. 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 a long 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, OR EDIBLE MUSCLE.

1023

The Great Scallop.-The Scallop has the power of progressive motion upon land, and likewise of swimming on the surface of the water. When this animal happens to be deserted by the tide, it opens its shell to the full extent, then shuts it with a sudden jerk, often rising five or six inches from the ground. In this manner it tumbles forward, until it regains the water. When the sea is calm, it is said that troops or little fleets. of Scallops are sometimes to be observed swimming on the surface. They raise one valve of their shell above the surface, which becomes a kind of sail, while the other remains on the water, and, by steadying the animal, and thus preventing its being overset, answers the purpose of a keel. When an enemy ap

SCALLOP.

proaches, these animals instantly close their shells, plunge to the bottom, and the whole fleet disappears. By what means they are enabled to regain the surface, we are totally ignorant.

Scallops are frequently sold for the table; and, in some parts of Europe, are much esteemed.

OF THE MUSCLES IN GENERAL.

THE Muscle tribe is distinguished by the shell being bivalve, without any tooth in the hinge, but in having the hinge marked with a longitudinal hollow line; and by the animal's being generally fixed to some substance by a byssus or silky beard.

Some of the Muscles penetrate into the interior of calcareous rocks, where they reside out of the reach of danger. Others adhere by their beards to the exterior of rocks or stones; and so tenacious is their hold, that, in the larger species, they cannot be separated without considerable exertion. One species is gathered from the depths of the sea, on account of the pearls which are found within its shells.

THE COMMON, OR EDIBLE MUSCLE.

By the silky threads which it forms from its body, this species adheres to rocks, both in the European and Indian seas; but it grows to a much larger size between the Tropics than in the northern cli

mates.

All the muscles have, for an instrument of motion, a tongue or foot, capable of considerable elongation, and also of being shortened into the form of a heart. This is marked with a longitudinal furrow, and is completely enveloped in a sheath formed of transverse and circular fibres, of an obscure purple color. When the animal is inclined to

change its pla e, it thrusts the foot out of the shell, and raises itself on its edge; then, by extending this forward, it uses it as a kind of

MUSCLE.

arm, drawing the body up to it, and thus it proceeds until it has found a convenient situation. If the Muscle be inclined to continue at the spot to which it has removed, the instrument of its motion is put to a very different employment; it is now employed in spinning those silky threads which fix it firmly to the spot, and which, like a ship at an chor, enable it to brave all the agitations of the water. All this it accomplishes by seizing with its point the gluten that is supplied by

a gland situated under its base, and drawing it out, through the furrow, into threads. When the Muscle is thus fixed, it lives upon the little earthy particles, or upon the bodies of such sinaller animals as the water transports to its shells.

These Muscles are generally esteemed a rich and wholesome food; but to some constitutions they occasion disorders, the symptoms of which are great swellings, eruptions of blotches or pimples, shortness of breath, convulsive motions, and sometimes even delirium. A remedy that has been recommended is two spoonsfull of oil and one of lemon juice, (or about two of vinegar,) shaken well together, and swallowed as soon as any of the symptoms take place. This unwholesome quality has been attributed to a small species of crab, the Cancer pisum of Linnæus, that is sometimes found within the shells. It seems, however, not to have its seat in anything essential to the Muscle; for, when illness of this kind has been occasioned, some persons have been affected, and others have not, who have eaten at the same time, and at least in equal quantity.

THE PEARL MUSCLE.

The Pearl is a calculus or morbid concretion, which is produced not only in these, but sometimes even in the common oysters, muscles, and other shells. It is found both in the body of the animal, and within the shells, on the outside of the body.

The principal fishery for pearls is on the coast of Tinneveley in Eastern Hindostan, where the natives find them of such commercial importance, as to employ in the fishery several hundreds of small vessels. The pearls are taken at two seasons of the year, in March and April, and again in August and September. They do not, however, fish every year; for if, upon trial, they do not find the pearls sufficiently valuable, they abstain until the ensuing season, in order to allow them time to increase their size.

A cord is fastened round the arms of the divers, and held by the

THE PEARL MUSCLE.

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persons in the boat; and, to accelerate their descent, the divers have a perforated stone, of eighteen or twenty pounds weight, tied by a cord to their great toe. Each of them is also furnished with a sack, which has the mouth distended by a hoop. They then descend, and, on reaching the bottom, slip off the stone, which is drawn up, and fill their sack with shells. When this is full, they give a signal, by pulling the rope, and they are then drawn up by the men in the boats.

The depth of water in which this fishery is carried on, is twenty or thirty yards, and the distance from the shore four or five leagues. When the

PEARL OYSTER, OR MUSCLE.

men are drawn up, they rest eight or ten minutes, to recover their breath, and then plunge in again; and a succession of men continue this slavish employment

for ten or twelve hours every day. The shells are left in vast heaps to putrefy, until the season is over. The gains of the adventurers are often small, as the success is very precarious. Great pearls are seldom found; and the generality of what are taken, are of the smaller kind. called Seed Pearls, which are sold by the ounce, to be converted into powder.

The shells are found adhering to the coral banks. Numbers of Sharks lurk about the diving-places, and often devour the poor adventurers.

PEARL DIVER

OF THE PINNA TRIBE.

FEW tribes of shell-fish have been more celebrated, even from the remotest periods of antiquity, than these. They are usually found in the sand or mud, in an erect position, with their larger end a little open. In this position they are firmly fixed, by means of a fine and strong byssus or silk, the fibres of which are agglutinated to the gravel, sand, roots of marine plants, broken shells, and other extraneous substances.

The animals of many of the species are used as food, and are in great request for the table.

THE SEA-WING.

They inhabit a gravely bottom, covered with mud and long seaweeds, and are only to be approached at particular times, when the sea recedes further than usual.

They stand upright, with their broad end about an inch above the surface, and the lower end fixed by a large and strong byssus, which is so firmly attached to the gravel, that it requires some force to draw them; up and, even when dragged out, the byssus is usually left behind. This beard is composed of numerous fine, silk-like fibres, of a dark purplish brown color, and two or three inches in length.

Many of these shells are caught annually, the animals being accounted a very palatable food; but they require at least five or six hours stewing, in order to render them eatable; if this be properly attended to, they are nearly as good as Scallops, but they are never so tender.

According to Aristotle, the byssus of the ancients was the beard of one of the species of Pinna; but the name seems to have been used indiscriminately by other writers, for any spun material that was esteemed finer or more valuable than wool. Reaumur remarked that the threads of the byssus are as fine and beautiful as silk. The Pinna on the coasts of Italy and Provence, (where it is fished up by means of iron hooks fixed on long poles,) is called the silk-worm of the sea. The stockings and gloves that are manufactured from the byssus which is there collected, are of exquisite finenes, but are too warm for common wear.

The Pinna, observes Col. Montagu, has long been celebrated for giving protection to a small species of crab, which was supposed to be of use to it, by giving it notice either of approaching danger, or of the presence of its prey. Respecting this circumstance, many stories have been handed down to us from the earliest times These, although not wholly unfounded, are mixed with too much fable to be fully credited in this enlightened age.