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BRITISH OYSTERS: PAST AND PRESENT.
By ALFRED BELL.
IN trying to work out the relations of the different oysters
in our Eastern Pliocene (Crag) deposits, I found it neces-
sary to extend my studies to those of the later periods, and
to those inhabiting our present seas and estuaries, confining
myself as much as possible to localities that have not been
re-stocked from outside sources. The question of what con-
nexion the various forms I shall refer to may have with each
other I shall not enter into, as it is enough for my purpose that
they fall more or less into groups, easily distinguished, and
easily recognized, and these groups, whether regarded as specific
or varietal, should have a distinctive name by which they may be
known.
Dr. Jeffreys (British Conchology, vol. ii., p. 165), in writing
of the British forms, says that "its variability of shape has
long made the common oyster a favourite subject for species
making," but as a well-known conchologist writes to me, the
study of the genus Ostrea has been almost "universally
shunned, or scamped by most writers." Dr. Dall remarks
(Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus., vol. xxiv., p. 934, 1902), in writing of
certain Astartes, "whether these be regarded as species or not,
we have the satisfaction of knowing what we mean when we.
employ a name."
Prof. E. von Martens goes still farther, saying that "it is
desirable that every local form that is well marked, zoologically
or geographically, should have a distinct name."
Mr. Coward (Migration of Birds—Camb. Univ. Press, 1912),
says also "the study of races and species, or local variations, is
commanding more and more attention, the patient work of
the "splitters" scorned by the old school of lumpers will
eventually solve many of the questions of the day," and the
"Father of British Conchology," Dr. Martin Lister, adds in a
MS. note in his own copy of De Cochleis, 1685, (taken from
Pythagoras, B.C. 550)—"the imposition of names on things is
the highest part of wisdom."
Fortified by such authorities, I have no hesitation in following
out their suggestions in the ensuing pages.