LOBSTER AND CRAB. 435 
“°Tis the voice of the lobster, I heard him declare 
You have baked me too brown : I must sugar my hair! 
As a duck with its eyelids, so he with his nose 
Trims his belt, and his buttons, and turns out his toes.” 
The Lobster has two teeth in its mouth, and three more in its 
stomach, all of a calcareous nature, and formerly made, when 
powdered, into lozenges for use against acidity. The scarlet 
coral of a Lobster is its ovary, full of eggs; in its general com- 
position the flesh is nutritious, though indigestible for gouty 
persons. Tinned lobster is apt to develop poisonous ptomaines 
when eaten, and should be avoided almost invariably. Likewise 
the stomach of a lobster, which contains its teeth, and is known 
popularly as “ the old lady in the arm chair,” is an unwholesome 
part. As said Robert Lovell (1661), the sum of the matter is 
that “‘ Lobsters are for strong stomachs: they are best in the 
full of the moon: they give a strong nourishment, and an 
indifferent stomach.” 
According to Dr. Hutchison, “ three ounces of potted lobster 
require about two and a half hours for digestion in the stomach.” 
For cooking a lobster the ancient way was to open it lengthways, 
and fill it with a gravy compounded with coriander seeds, and 
pepper. It was then put on the gridiron, and slowly cooked, being 
basted with the same kind of gravy as already used. 
A Lobster can run with great speed, and can spring, tail fore- 
most, to a considerable distance, even with the swiftness of a flying 
bird. One of the large claws is always knobbed, or “ numb,” 
and the other is like a saw, for holding and cutting up the lobster’s 
food. Its body consists chiefly of liver, with fat not readily 
digestible ; the flesh fibres are dense and coarse, becoming softer 
if eaten with vinegar, which also neutralises such ammoniacal 
salts as are likely to be present. Lobsters are carnivorous, and 
predatory. Jules Janin jocularly called the creature a Marine 
Cardinal, because assuming a red dress when cooked. Pope, in 
his Farewell Ode to London, has told of exchanging 
** Luxurious lobster nights 
For sober studious days.” 
Samuel Pepys (1660), May 27th, says in his diary, “ Dined in 
my cabin, where Mr. Drun brought me a lobster, and a bottle of 
oil instead of vinegar, whereby I spoiled my dinner; late to a 
sermon.” 
Concerning the marine Crab, it was long ago (1656), declared 
