| CHAPTER I. |
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| THE OYSTER IN SEASON. |
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| The R. canon correct; Alimentary Qualities of the Oyster; Profitable Investment; Billingsgate, and London Consumption; English Oyster-beds; Jersey Oysters; French Oyster-beds on the Coast of Brittany | 9 |
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| CHAPTER II. |
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| ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE OYSTER. |
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| The Ancients; Oysters a Greek and Roman Luxury; Sergius Orata, and the Oyster-beds of Baia; Immense Consumption at Rome; Failure of the Circean and Lucrinian Oyster-beds under Domitian, and Introduction of Rutupians from Britain; Agricola, Constantine, and Helena; Athenian Oysters, and Aristides. | 21 |
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| CHAPTER III. |
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| MODERN HISTORY OF THE OYSTER. |
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| Fall of the Rutupian Supremacy; Louis IV. and William of Normandy; Conquest of England, and Revival of Oyster-eating in England; The Oyster under Legal Protection; American Oysters | 24 |
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| CHAPTER IV. |
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| THE OYSTER AT HOME. |
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| Its Nature, Colour, and Structure; Natural Food; Perception of the changes of Light; Uses of the Celia; Fecundity and Means of Propagation; Age; Fossil Oysters in Berkshire and in the Pacific; Power of Locomotion | 28 |
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| CHAPTER V. |
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| THE OYSTER IN ITS NEW SETTLEMENT. |
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| Dredging for Oysters; Oyster-beds and their formation; Sergius Orata; Pliny the Elder; Baia and the Lucrine Sea; Roman Epicurism and Gluttony; Martial and Horace, Cicero and Seneca; Masticate Oysters, and do not bolt them whole; Mediterranean and Atlantic Oysters; Agricola and the Rutupians; Apicius Coelius, Trajan, Pliny, and the Vivarium | 37 |
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| CHAPTER VI. |
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| THE OYSTER ON ITS TRAVELS. |
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| The Isle of Sheppey, the Medway, and Whitstable; Milton, Queenborough, Rochester, and Faversham Oysters; Colchester and Essex Beds; Edinburgh Pandores and Aberdours; Dublin Carlingfords and Powldoodies; Poole and its Oyster-bank; Cornish Oysters and the Helford Beds; Poor Tyacke, and How he was Done; Dredgers and their Boats; Auld Reekie's Civic Ceremonial; Song of the Oyster; its Voyage to Market, and Journey by Coach and Rail | 45 |
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| CHAPTER VII. |
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| THE OYSTER AT ITS JOURNEY'S END. |
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| Oyster Stalls; How to Open the Oyster; an Oyster Supper; Beer, Wines, and Spirits; Roasted, Fried, Stewed, and Scolloped Oysters; Oyster Soup, and Oyster Sauce; Broiled Oysters; Oyster Pie; Oyster Toast; Oyster Patties; Oyster Powder; Pickled Oysters; Oyster Loaves; Oyster Omelet; Cabbage, Larks, and Oysters; and Frogs and Oysters | 54 |
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| CHAPTER VIII. |
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| THE OYSTER AND THE DOCTOR. |
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| Oyster-eating in Prussia; Disgusting Wagers; Oysters better than Pills, A Universal Remedy; Professional Opinions; When Ladies should eat them; Repugnance overcome; Oysters as an External Application; Chemical Analysis; How to tell if Dead before Opening | 68 |
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| CHAPTER IX. |
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| THE OYSTER ABROAD. |
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| British Oysters in Ostend Quarters; the Whitstable in a Slow Coach; Holstein, Schleswig, and Heligoland Natives; Norwegian and Bremer Oysters; American Oysters; French Oysters; Dutch Oysters; Mediterranean Oysters and Classical Judges | 75 |
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| CHAPTER X. |
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| "THE TREASURE OF AN OYSTER." |
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| Sweet names given to Pearls; Barry Cornwall Proctor's lines; Component parts of Pearls; Mother-of-pearl; How Pearls are formed, Sorrows into Gems; Their nucleus; Sir Everard Home and Sir David Brewster; Curious shapes and fancy Jewellery; Pearl Fisheries; Bahrein Island and Bay of Candalchy; Miseries of the Divers; Pearls as Physic; Immense value of recorded Pearls; A Perle for a Prince; Most precious Pearls | 82 |
