FRESH. DRY. Water, 74.47 percent Protein, 21.23 „ 83.13 percent Fat, 3.47 „ 13.59 „ Ash, 1.02 „ 3.99 „ =The Mussel.=--The mussel may be described as a fresh-water oyster. It occurs in almost all parts of the United States in the fresh waters and in external appearance resembles to some extent the oyster, but the shell is usually smoother. In the mussel is often developed concretions of the carbonate of lime in a particular form known as pearls. In fact the chief value of the mussel is in the supply of pearls which they furnish, since their flesh, although often eaten, is not considered very palatable nor desirable. Pearls may be found in mussels in every locality, but in some regions they are more abundant than in others,--for instance, the mussels of Wisconsin are especially noted for the occurrence of the pearls. Pearls are also frequently found in oysters, but by no means so frequently as in the mussel. _Composition of the Mussel._--The edible portion of the mussel forms about one-half its weight. Water, 78.64 percent Protein, 12.51 „ Fat, 1.67 „ Ash, 1.73 „ Undetermined, 5.45 „ =Oysters.=--Oysters belong to a class of animals known as mollusks. They grow in salt or brackish water and are found along almost the whole of the coast of the United States. They exist in the greatest abundance along the coast in the vicinity of Long Island Sound, Norfolk, Virginia, along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas, and along the Pacific coast from San Francisco to the northern limits of Washington. _Size._--The size of an oyster depends greatly upon its food and also upon its species. There are some varieties which at a given period of growth are naturally very much larger than others. The larger variety grows near Norfolk and along the Gulf coast. A smaller species is especially abundant on the Pacific coast, though a number of very large specimens of oysters have been found on that coast. _Age._--An oyster is eaten at any time after two years. Oysters, however, three or four years old are, perhaps, in all respects the best. The age is determined largely by the appearance of the shell, experts being able to practically determine the age of an oyster by an examination of the shell.