Strangely enough,
its eggs are not sent into the sea at once, but are kept between the
Oyster's shells until they hatch. Needless to say, these babies are very
small indeed, else their nursery could not contain them all Though so
small that thousands of them together look more like a pinch of dust
than anything else, yet each one has two thin shells; so that, if you
eat the parent Oyster, they grate on your teeth like sand. Oysters, at
this time, are "out of season"--that is, unfit for food.
At the right moment, the Oyster gets rid of its numerous family. It
opens its shells, then shuts them rapidly; and, each time this happens,
a cloud of young Oysters is puffed out like smoke. Now these mites must
fend for themselves in a sea full of foes.
They have no defence, and countless numbers of them are gobbled up by
crabs, anemones, and others. If this did not happen, the sea would soon
be paved with Oysters.
For a time, the baby Oysters--which are known as "spat"--are able to
swim here and there. In rough weather they are driven far into the deeps
of the ocean, and lost. The rest of them, before they have been free for
two days, settle on the bed of the sea--sometimes on their own parents;
and there they remain for life.
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